#i like doing smaller projects like this. more time for side dishes and desserts and snacks. less big entres

[hyperculture]

last night I had coffee jelly with homemade vanilla bean whipped cream it was soooo good

[tlbodine]

Thanksgiving is Gonna Be Weird: A Survival Guide for 2020

It’s 2020, the pandemic is worse than ever, and the holidays are right around the corner. No matter what, this is going to be a weird Thanksgiving for a lot of people. With travel restrictions in place and most of us having a mighty desire not to murder our friends and family by spreading around a disease, there’s a good chance that you’re going to be celebrating a bit differently this year. 

And, hey, maybe you decide not to celebrate at all. Which is perfectly valid! 

But maybe you’re staring down the possibility of your first Thanksgiving on your own, or feeding just the small group you live for rather than a big crowd, or some other unusual circumstance. And if that’s the case, I wanted to compile together some resources/ideas to help you out. I know this isn’t my usual horror fare, but...well, I hope it’s helpful, regardless. 

“Help, I’ve Never Made Thanksgiving Dinner Before” Starter Kit

Maybe you’ve always gone home for the holidays but are currently stuck in an apartment with a few roommates, and none of you have any intensive cooking skills. Maybe you always take the kids to Grandma’s house and have never had to contribute more than a side dish but now really want to do a proper Thanksgiving feast for your partner(s), kid(s) and whoever else lives in your house. 

Never fear! A Thanksgiving feast doesn’t have to be intimidating! In fact, Thanksgiving foods are usually pretty simple; the most challenging part of the whole feast is the project management aspect of working with a lot of different dishes and getting everything ready at once. But the smaller your crowd to feed, the easier that is! 

So, the first thing you’ll want to do is come up with a menu. Sit down and write a list of all the foods you normally eat and enjoy on Thanksgiving. If something is served at your family meal that you’ve never cared for, guess what? You can boot that bad boy right off the list! 

By and large, the standard Thanksgiving feast consists of: 

Roast turkey 

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

Some kind of dinner roll

Cranberry sauce

Some number of vegetable side dishes (often a green been casserole and a sweet potato casserole) 

Some kind of dessert (often/traditionally a pumpkin pie) 

I’ve linked above some easy & favorite techniques/recipes for all of these foods, but of course you can buy time-saving convenience items to get you rolling -- from potato flakes to gravy mix to premade pie. I won’t tell if you don’t. 

If there’s something you’re used to eating every year that you don’t know how to make....call whoever usually makes it! If at all possible, obviously, I’m not recommending you do a seance to talk to your dead great-aunt and get her rolls recipe. Just, like...phone up your friend/family member, get the recipe, and use it as an opportunity to connect. Odds are both of you are missing the human interaction. 

“Hey, That’s Nice, But I Live in a Dorm Room”  Edition 

Okay, okay, I get it. You’re away at college and can’t get home to see your family safely and you’re living in some kind of weird socially isolated dorm situation where you have limited access to cooking implements. Or, shit, idk, maybe you’re couch-surfing or living in a motel or otherwise not in possession of a full kitchen. 

I got you, fam. 

Do you have at your disposal a microwave? Rice cooker? Even an electric kettle will work! 

If you have some way to boil water, you can make instant mashed potatoes, gravy, and stove-top stuffing. If you have a microwave, you can steam some vegetables and bake a sweet potato. For dessert, core an apple, stuff the cavity with brown sugar + cinnamon + butter and nuke in the microwave for 4 minutes. 

It’s hypothetically possible to microwave a turkey, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Instead, I’d opt to buy a deli roast chicken (about $5 at most grocery stores), or even just some turkey deli meat. Alternatively, ham usually just needs to be warmed rather than cooked, and you can buy a big ol’ ham steak at the store for a couple of bucks. 

“I’m Dead Broke Because COVID, Send Help” 

You know the great thing about Thanksgiving food? It’s cheap. No, really! It can be, anyway, especially since a lot of foods go on sale. 

In my area anyway, the local Wal-Mart and Smith’s Grocery have: 

A can of green beans for about 79 cents

A bag of instant mashed potatoes for about $1 

A big can of yams for about $1, or fresh yams for 50 cents/lb (usually a couple sweet potatoes = 1lb) 

Canned corn or peas + corn for 50 cents, or steam-in-bag veggies of your choice for $1 

Stovetop stuffing for $1 or sometimes even 50 cents per box 

Margarine for 79 cents to $1 

Gravy mix packets for 50 cents each

A can of cranberry sauce for $1 or less

Most of these are also available at Dollar Tree! 

A lot of food banks will also be giving out turkeys this time of year, and some grocery stores will give you a free turkey if you spend $50 or $100 on groceries or whatever. Do you have an older relative who needs groceries? Ask if you can go buy their food and deliver it to their door (contactless!) and keep the free turkey.

You can pretty easily feed a group of 4-6 for $20 or so, especially if you’re willing to be flexible on your protein. And what are you doing feeding more than 6 people in the middle of a pandemic, huh? 

“I’m Used to Hosting a Big Dinner But There’s Only Like Three Of Us Living In This House WTF How Do I Scale This Shit Down” 

Maybe you are a Thanksgiving veteran. Maybe you’re accustomed to hosting for a big crowd and cooking a small meal just seems dumb and pointless. I feel you. This is my life right now! But don’t despair! 

The way I see it, you’ve got a couple-three options: 

Option One: 

Cook your turkey + a different side each day, and eat your Thanksgiving feast spread out over a week or so. It’ll keep your leftovers from dominating your fridge, let you eat something fresh, and allow you to enjoy all your favorite recipes. Downside is you’ll have to cook every day, so you tell me if you’re too busy to do that. 

Option Two: 

Cook everything that you normally would, but portion off half of it or whatever to stuff into your freezer, or go deliver it to somebody else’s door. The odds are pretty good that you’ve got a friend or family member who is freaking out about the holiday, and if you can’t see them in person, you can at least drop food off on their porch and then honk aggressively/cheerfully from the safety of your car! 

Option Three: 

Make something different this year. If you’re a foodie, take this as an opportunity to challenge yourself to create something high-maintenance and weird that you wouldn’t normally make. This is a good choice if you’re off work and stuck in your house with nothing else to do. Basically you’re subbing out quantity for quality so the meal still feels special and unique even if it’s, y’know....just you and your cat, or whoever. 

PS: Roasting a whole chicken or a cornish game hen is a fun, small-scale way to get your bird-in-the-oven experience. You can also buy a turkey breast and just cook that, which will be a lot faster than the whole bird anyway. 

"I’m An Essential Worker And I’m Working Thanksgiving And Have No Time To Do ANYTHING, What Now?” 

Dude, I get it. And whether you’re a doctor, nurse, grocery store employee, or whatever other essential service-worker, my heart goes out to you because hoo boy this year has been shit, hasn’t it? I can’t do anything about the hazard pay situation, but I CAN tell you that there are a few places offering delivery-based Thanksgiving meal options! 

You might want to search around a bit for your specific area. Cracker Barrel, Marie Callendar’s, Boston Market, and other types of branded “home-cooking” type restaurants tend to have some kind of Thanksgiving thing. Why not call your local restaurant fav to see if they’re doing something similar? Most restaurants are desperate for a way to stay afloat right now, so a ton of places that don’t traditionally deliver are offering curbside service now. It’s worth a try! 

So, there you have it. 

I hope some of these tips taught you something new, pointed you to a helpful resource, or gave you some ideas. More than anything, I just want everybody to be safe and happy this holiday. So, please -- get creative, wear your mask while you’re shopping, avoid the get-togethers, and be careful. You may save a life! 

[tisfan]

Say It Again

Square: B3 - Deaf Creators: @tisfan & @27dragons Title: Say it Again Warning: None Rating: Teen Characters: Bucky, Tony, Clint, FRIDAY Tags: temporary deafness, tech doesn’t solve everything, caretaker Tony, dyslexia, ableist language and self-hatred Summary: Bucky loses the ability to hear… and learns something new about himself... Warning: This fic contains some mild amounts of cultural ableism, particularly in Bucky’s views on himself, not being able to read.  Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19396732 Word Count: 3397 Posted for @winterironbingo​

Bucky always seemed smaller, somehow, in the infirmary, than he did in the rest of the world. Presence. Tony knew something about that; people were constantly shocked by how much shorter Tony was than they’d imagined, and, to some degree, how much less loud in a personal setting than a professional one.

The fact that he had lifts in the Iron Man armor probably didn’t hurt, either.

Bucky had come awake very suddenly that morning; the damage from the fall, combined with being at ground zero of a non-nuclear explosion had sent him into a coma for several days. Not unexpected, and while nerve-wracking, Tony admitted that sleep was the best thing for him. Let the serum heal the damage, just as soon as the medical trauma teams finished closing up the wounds.

He’d… laid there for a long time, not answering anyone. Eyes opened, looked around the room, and then closed again. He didn’t entirely seem… aware.

Around noon, he’d finally given medical something they could work with. He’d pointed metal fingers at his ear, and then shook his head.

His hearing was gone. Entirely, though the medics were confident that the serum would heal the damage in time. They didn’t, however, have any idea how long that would take. A few hours? A few days? A month? No clue. Ears, it turned out, were finicky and fussy constructions.

But other than that, he was in great shape, only a few bruises and nicks left to highlight where the worst of the damage had been, so they were cutting him loose.

Which left it to Tony to take care of his boyfriend. That was a switch; usually it was Bucky hovering at Tony’s side as he laboriously and without the serum healed from his injuries, or hacked his way through whatever bug had run rampant through the building.

Tony had whipped up quick app for Bucky’s tablet -- as long as he was within range of the Compound, anything anyone said to Bucky would be displayed on the tablet’s screen, in a discreet little bar at the top of the screen, where it wouldn’t interfere with the rest of the tablet’s function. “Here you go, babe,” he said, demonstrating the functions. “I’m pretty sure I can make it work outside of FRIDAY’s range, but the native voice-to-text translators are... lacking.”

Bucky stared down at the tablet, then back up at Tony’s mouth, back down to the tablet. He hadn’t said anything, at all, since the med techs turned him loose, even though nothing was wrong with his vocal chords. He scowled at the tablet again, then, very slowly, tapped out Thank you, and showed it to Tony. Followed by a scribble of Bucky’s normally terrible handwriting -- he’d been left handed before the accident, and Hydra hadn’t cared about his penmanship -- you talk too fast.

(more below the cut)

“You already knew that,” Tony pointed out, grinning. “I’ll try to slow it down a little for you. Is this better?” It felt like talking through molasses, honestly. “You know you can still talk, right?”

Bucky nodded. Medtex md me. Fezl weird.

Tony squinted at the message, then nodded. “Okay, as long as you know you can. Whatever makes you more comfortable. They said you should take it easy for a while, so... What do you want to do? Play chess? Watch a movie? We can put in something you’ve already seen, turn on the subtitles.”

Bucky stared down at the block of text that Tony had spewed out, even talking slower, he tended to say at least four times as many words as strictly necessary. Movis good. Die Hard? Unlike Steve, who complained constantly about the gunfire scenes in various action movies, Bucky’d always seemed to enjoy them; everything from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to Indiana Jones and back, the more ridiculous, the better.

Die Hard was not a Christmas movie, even if some people insisted it was, but they’d started it as a tradition around then, and sometimes Bucky would ask to watch it in July anyway. It might not be a Christmas movie, but Tony knew something about comfort films.

“You got it, sugarlips. You want to get it set up and I’ll get us some snacks?” Especially since Bucky had been in a coma, healing, for a couple of days. He was bound to be hungry; IV nutrition just barely sustained him. Something calorie-dense -- nachos, maybe, with meat and veggies and cheese, protein and fat and carbs all at once, and at least a nod toward nutrition. And some cookies for dessert.

Tony put it all together, a heaping platter of food and a selection of drinks, and carried it all back out to the movie room.

For a while, it was just them, and then Nat came in, wearing old leggings with holes in them and an oversized sweatshirt that Tony was pretty sure belonged to Steve. And then Steve joined them. And Bruce. And Clint.

And of course, everyone talked.

Bucky spent more of the movie scowling at his tablet than he did watching the film.

Tony nudged him. “Okay?”

Bucky nodded. Then, taking advantage of what appeared to be yet another Steve-against-gun-phyics argument, said in a voice that was probably meant to be a whisper. “It’s a lot.”

Tony glanced down at the tablet, which was scrolling text across the top in a continuous marquee, one line for Steve’s rant, and another for the movie, and a third of Clint arguing with Steve. Tony grimaced. “Sorry,” he said. “You want to do something else?” He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb to underscore his question.

Bucky nodded. Wrksp? Can just watch u

Tony nodded quickly. “Yeah, absolutely, we can do that.” He set aside the various dishes and bottles piled on their laps and then helped Bucky to his feet. “We’re just going to go somewhere a little quieter,” he told the others’ curious looks.

“He’s deaf,” Clint pointed out. “It doesn’t get much quieter than that.”

Tony made a face. “I can still hear you, birdbrain.” He curled his hand into Bucky’s. “Come on, Buckaboo.”

Being deaf was not at all like what Bucky had thought -- if he’d even given it any thought at all before it happened, and he was pretty sure he had not. 

First off, it wasn’t pure silence, if there could ever be such a thing. Bucky’s serum had enhanced most of his senses, turned them up to eleven, as Peter Parker had once explained it. He could hear breathing and heartbeats and the pulse of blood through a person’s veins, including his own. So, silence was a concept, not ever a reality.

Even being deaf, apparently, wasn’t no noise.

It was just senseless noise.

His head rang like a bell, constantly. Like a headache, with no pain. What he “heard” was the audio equivalent of the shimmer of sunlight on too-hot pavement. Directionless. Meaningless. Noise.

But it wasn’t silence.

There were some sounds he could still, sort of, hear. Gunfire. Someone yelling. It didn’t mean anything, out of context as it was, but he could hear it. 

So, that was good, at least. He didn’t have to worry about not hearing someone who was shooting at them.

Not that Steve would let him back into the field, even if Bucky wanted to, while he was operating impaired.

Bucky wasn’t sure he wanted to.

He relied on his hearing, the way a person moved in the space around him. Several times, recently, Tony had startled him, badly, just because he came up behind Bucky, out of his peripheral vision, and Bucky-- couldn’t sense him coming.

The shop, at least, was nice.

There was always noise -- Tony talking to his projects, the fabricators, FRIDAY, the bots -- but very little of it required Bucky’s attention at all, once he’d gotten FRIDAY to stop putting up song lyrics. He really did not care about the tribulations of Bon Scott.

Tony didn’t slip as seamlessly into his work as usual, coming back every ten minutes or so to check on Bucky. “Did you get enough to eat? Need a drink? A blanket?”

Bucky couldn’t decide if it was nice, or infuriating. It was very easy to get lost in the not-quite-silence. Like slipping away, sometimes it would take someone a moment to get his attention. So, it was nice to be reminded that he wasn’t… quite as alone as he’d felt. 

On the other hand, he was the goddamn Winter Soldier, and if he needed a blanket, he could bloody well get one.

“Reminds me,” Bucky said, and that was always so strange, talking. He knew he was talking, he could feel everything working just the way it was supposed to. He didn’t feel like he was drunk, or slurring, or anything. He just couldn’t hear it. And he didn’t know how loud he was being. “Of being the Winter Soldier.”

Tony blinked, startled, and tipped his head to the side curiously. “How?” he asked, or at least, that was the shape his mouth made.

Bucky gestured at the space around his head, like that meant anything. “I’m here. And there’s a wall of --” he tried to lower his voice, the pinched expression around Tony’s eyes a subtle clue, maybe, that he was talking too loud. “--nothing. Around me. Like, I’m here, but I’m not… important? Or I don’t understand. They would talk, near me, of course. But it never mattered what they said.”

Tony’s face got tight and pinchy, and he sat next to Bucky, reaching for Bucky’s hands. “You matter,” he said, very slowly, like it was very important that Bucky be able to understand him. “I love you.”

Bucky watched Tony’s mouth moving, memorizing each twitch of lip, the way his teeth moved, closing around the sounds. “Say it again.”

“I. Love. You.” Tony punctuated that with a light kiss, just a brush of his lips across Bucky’s.

“Thanks,” Bucky said, and his throat ached and it had nothing to do with whether or not he could talk, or hear. “Love you, too.”

He closed his eyes, felt Tony under his hands. He hated having his eyes closed, it made everything feel even further away than it was when he couldn’t hear it. But sometimes he just needed to not-- be.

God, his head hurt. Reading had always made his head hurt, for as long as he could remember. “Sometimes the best thing about bein’ the Winter Soldier was that I didn’t hafta read,” Bucky said, speaking into the blackness. 

Bucky felt Tony freeze for a moment, felt the vibrations of Tony’s voice, for a brief moment -- no more than a few words, before he remembered that Bucky couldn’t hear him. Tony moved, leaning closer, and he was nuzzling gently against Bucky’s cheek, his breath warm as it spilled over Bucky’s skin.

Bucky stubbornly kept his eyes shut for a few more moments, not wanting to try to read, or figure out, or… anything. Waited there, in the darkness. Heart thudding in his chest; he could feel the way it tripped, beating faster than normal. His blood pressure was probably through the roof, honestly.

What if it never comes back?

Finally, he sighed, opened his eyes, looked at Tony. Wondered if Tony was going to scold him for trying to ignore everything. Or something. Bucky wasn’t sure. The whole not-being-able-to-hear thing was giving him the serious creeps. Like he was always… missing something.

And that he might never get it back.

Tony was looking at him, forehead creased with worry and confusion. He opened his mouth, then shook his head a little. He opened his hands like a book, then made a comically exaggerated yuck face, tipping his head and raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I swear, I dunno how you all don’t have headaches, like all the time, stupid squirmy shit,” Bucky said. “First thing I did, when I moved in, back-- you know, back when it was JARVIS. He read everything to me, right in my ear. It was great.”

Tony’s lips moved, slowly repeating squirmy. His frown deepened, until Bucky felt the urge to reach up and smooth it away. And then all of a sudden, his eyes widened, and he said something that Bucky couldn’t read. And then started chattering a mile a minute, so Bucky could only interpret maybe one word in five. “--believe-- --help-- --so much-- --better--”

Bucky scowled down at his tablet, then “What’s sldexic mean?”

Tony stopped, and the scrolling letters paused, thank god. He turned his head, saying something to FRIDAY, and the monitor Tony had been working on flickered and cleared, the schematic replaced with a single word in a typeface -- font, they called it now -- Bucky hadn’t seen before. It was... heavy, like the bottoms of the letters weighed more than the tops, the lines there thicker, and it didn’t stop the letters from wriggling around, but it slowed them down, anchored them in place. DYSLEXIC, the word said. Underneath, a new line of text unfurled, in that same weighted text. A disorder that creates difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols.

Tony was watching Bucky closely.

“Slow,” Bucky said. “S’what my teacher tol’ Ma. I wasn’t-- I mean, I’m not. I ain’t… I ain’t dumb. I can read.” He felt that familiar shame, that what had been so easy for everyone else, Bucky had labored over and laughed around, and gotten out of by being charming. And… by a sticky fingerprint on a flashcard that told him that one word, the one he kept getting wrong. Was building.

Tony nodded, shook his head, made a face. “You’re damn smart,” he said slowly, carefully. “It’s not intelligence. It’s how you see the words. The letters...” He made a wriggly gesture with his hand. “Move.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. Of course they moved. That’s what words… did. They moved around, like they were playing musical chairs and Bucky could catch them, sometimes, and pin them to the page, enough so that he got the general idea of what he was looking at. But mostly, he just hadn’t bothered. Shooting a gun made… sense. “Well, yeah?”

Tony shook his head. “They should not,” he enunciated. “They should stay still.” He pointed at the monitor. “Better?”

Quieter. More still. Like he could pick the whole word up. Which, yes, better, but the fact that something had to be changed, just so Bucky could deal with it-- “Something’s wrong with me,” Bucky said. It wasn’t a question. Something had always been wrong with him, but hell, he was just a dumb gun, he didn’t need… except now he couldn’t hear, and apparently he couldn’t read. 

And he was alone inside his head.

His eyes burned and then words disappeared in a sudden wash of blurry tears. 

Tony’s arms were around him, holding him close, voice a subtle vibration against his chest, hands stroking soothingly over his hair.

Maybe it was that soft touch, or the way Tony’s voice was nothing but more wah wah in the wall of nonsense noise that flooded him, or just, realizing how big the gap was that separated them. Tony was a genius. A genius, and everything that came with it, and Bucky was not. Not even as good as a whole person anymore, and he didn’t deserve Tony.

And he couldn’t hear himself talk, so the whole story came flooding out. How he struggled so much in school, and hearing that there were places for kids like him. Hospitals for kids that weren’t right in the head. And so he learned. He got his sister to read to him, and she was two years younger, but he could get away with being loud and trouble because he was a boy, and she’d read to him and he’d memorize it. No one had to know.

Tony’s hands tipped Bucky’s face back to look up at him, brushing away hot tears. “You are smart,” Tony insisted. “Bruce is not dumb because he needs glasses to read. You are not dumb because you need help holding the words still. And I love you.” He pressed a kiss to Bucky’s forehead, to Bucky’s nose.

“Okay,” he said, because what else was he going to say? Tony obviously didn’t believe that Bucky was an idiot, even if Bucky felt stupider and slower than he ever had in his entire life. And maybe, maybe he could figure this out, cover it up, learn-- there were sign languages, weren’t there? Clint used them sometimes, when he didn’t feel like putting in his hearing aids. Bucky could learn that, maybe.

Something. 

Tony wouldn’t stand for it, if Bucky decided to just… give up.

He let Tony’s gentle, exploratory kiss brush over Bucky’s mouth. “Say it again.”

“I love you. I love you. I love you.”

A week after that breakthrough, Bucky was learning ASL -- mostly from Clint, but supplementing with actual lessons, otherwise he’d mostly only know long-range weapons tactical words, and how to order a pizza, and a week after that, he was back in the field. 

Friday could translate Bucky’s sign into words when the team needed it, and the new font meant that Bucky was back on comms, with FRIDAY scrolling necessary information on his HUD.

Three weeks after that, Bucky had surprised Tony with an impromptu waltz around the shop, being able to feel the music rhythms in a special headset that Tony’d been working up. It wasn’t the same as being able to hear, but it was something, at least.

And every night, before bed, Bucky would ask him, very seriously, “Say it again.”

And every night, Tony would tell Bucky, as many times as he wanted, “I love you. I love you. I love you.” He signed it as he said it, occasionally dipped into other languages, but always came back to the simplicity of English, and punctuated each declaration with a kiss.

“Love you, too, peaches,” Bucky signed back. He talked less than he used to, signed more. Tony missed the sound of his voice, sometimes, but tried not to mention it. Things were better, so much better, than they had been the first few weeks.

When Tony was woken from a sound sleep to Bucky’s cry, he was utterly shocked. Bucky didn’t make… involuntary sounds. Not anymore.

He was sitting up in bed, clutching at his head, and whining.

Tony sat up as well and put a hand on Bucky’s back, rubbing in small circles. He didn’t bother trying to talk, not while Bucky wasn’t looking at him. He turned up the lights a bit, though, so they could see to sign, if Bucky decided to tell him about it.

“Oh, god,” Bucky said, a whisper, barely a sliver of sound, and then again, louder. “Tony--” He stared up, eyes wide in the half light. “Tony, say something.”

“What is it, sweetheart? I’m right here.” Tony signed as he talked. He didn’t know as much ASL as Bucky had learned, yet, but it was hard not to pick it up, surrounded by it so much.

“I-- I can hear you,” Bucky said, almost reverently, like an old fallen sinner who’d just found God. Again. “Tony, I… Tony, I can hear you.”

“What?” Tony’s hands faltered. “You can? You can hear me?” He caught Bucky’s face in his hands. “Really?”

“I can hear you,” Bucky repeated.  “I didn’t--” he started crying, almost silently, little hitches of breath and the tears rolled down his cheeks. “I got used to it, I thought that was, it was just always… I got used to it.”

“Hey.” Tony pulled Bucky into his arms, tucked Bucky’s face up against his throat, rocking gently. “It’s all right, sweetheart, it’s okay. We didn’t know when, or even if. It wasn’t going to change anything important.”

“Scared me,” Bucky admitted. “Woke up… there was a noise, and I woke up. I didn’t even know… what was happening. Oh, god, Tony, I missed you-- so stupid, I missed your voice, all the time. The way you laugh. The way you say--” He looked up again. “Say it again.”

“I love you.” Tony kissed Bucky’s lips, his cheek, his jaw, and then nuzzled at his ear. “I love you,” he whispered.

“Love you, too, peaches,” Bucky said. “God, I missed that. More than anything else.”

A/N: https://www.dyslexiefont.com/en/typeface/

Dyslexia, as a disorder, became more widely known in the United States in 1944, the year after Bucky Barnes fell from the train. For quite a long time, it was still thought of as being a lack in education, rather than a disorder. Bucky, having gone to school in the 20s and 30s, would have been classified as Learning Disabled and treated accordingly. (Not well.)

Divider Line by the way, Tumblr, I hate you. Give me my damn line back.

[fanfic-inator795]

RotTMNT/Baron Jitsu fanfiction: Dating… With Children - BONUS CHAPTER

((Just consider this a bonus chapter that could pretty much take place at any day during the story, since it's more drabble-like than the other chapters.

As much as I LOVE writing cute Baron Jitsu stuff, the other main part of this story is Draxum also bonding with the boys and learning to become a worthy stepdad. (or, second dad? Since Lou was never married before? Whatever) And I really didn't want that part of the story to sorta fall by the wayside in favor of romance so, here's a whole chapter focusing on Draxum and the boys. Enjoy! ^v^))

Draxum had never really had much experience with kids in his adult life. No brothers or sisters meant no nieces or nephews, cousins or other distant relatives weren’t really much of an option either, and the lab he worked at wasn’t exactly the type to get field trips.

Still, dating a man with four young boys allowed him to learn quickly and pick up on little things. One of the things he had noticed right away was that once a child thought of you as a good person - or at the very least, considered them someone they trusted enough and didn’t mind being around - they wanted that person to know every single detail about them.

Whether that be their favorite food (pizza, though each of them had vastly different favorite side dishes, snacks, desserts and juice. Draxum honestly wasn’t sure how Lou could keep it all straight), their favorite colors (that one was as obvious as, well, as the colored shirts they were wearing) or, the most ‘important’ of all, their favorite toys…

“-And this is The Annihilation, an’ this is Liberty Bill - he’s part of the Liberty League.”

“Naturally,” Draxum said dryly, adjusting his position slightly on the boy’s floor so that his legs didn’t fall asleep.

“Yeah, they’re okay. My brothers really like them though. But my favorite is-” Raph grinned, holding up an action figure in an orange leotard with a white cape and bear ears on his mask. “GHOST BEARRRR!”

“Ghost Bear, hm?” The scientist could hardly keep himself from rolling his eyes. How on Earth did these wrestlers come up with such ridiculous names and costume themes? Then again, they probably had to do something to help keep the audience’s attention, along with all the manufactured drama between the so-called ‘athletes’. It was no wonder so many children were fans of it.

“-and he’s always won every fight, and he’s super strong and just SO COOL!” Raph continued as he shook the figure around, “An’ sometimes, when I’m playing wrestling with him, I have him tag team up with other bears!”

The boy in red raised back over to his closet and began to pull out not more action figures, but instead plushies. First a small black bear Beanie Baby - “This is Capt’n Snuggles-” then a much bigger, much more plush bear with a small lab coat- “and this is Dr. Huggenstein, you’d probably like him ‘cause he’s a doctor like you-” and finally, a slightly smaller and very well-loved brown bear plushie covered in stitches and patches- “And THIS is Cheech! He was my first teddy!”

Raph’s smile softened a bit as he hugged the toy. He and Cheech had been friends for a long time… Since before he met Lou, since before he met his brothers! And as far as Raph was concerned, they were going to be friends forever.

“...It- er, He definitely seems special then,” Draxum commented.

Raph nodded. “Yeah, he’s great…” He then scowled slightly. “Some of the older kids back at my old home didn’t think so though. They said havin’ teddy bears makes you a baby, but I didn’t believe them…” Even when their words hurt. “Teddies are cool, and so are real bears.”

“Indeed,” the scientist agreed, “After all, they’re resourceful, resilient, protective of their young-”

“Yeah!” Raph smiled, hugging Cheech again, “And strong too! Really strong, like me! But they’re not jerks or anything, they’re just bein’ bears! That’s why I like them!”

Draxum smiled a bit, watching as Raph began to make Cheech wrestle Liberty Bill. “A good choice for a favorite animal, then...”

….

“I can’t believe you’ve never heard of Jupiter Jim!” Leo shook his head. What, did grown ups just miss out on ALL the fun stuff in life? “My brothers and I have seen all his movies!”

“Oh? All of them?”

“...Weeeell, maybe not all of them-” Sixty movies was a lot, even for a young fan, and some of them hadn’t been re-released on dvd yet- “But we’ve still seen a lot of them, and that’s more than you!”

“Hmph, fine, fine, I’ll give one of them a watch sometime,” Draxum half-promised. He enjoyed the sci-fi genre well enough but, much like the Lou Jitsu movies, Jupiter Jim always just seemed too cheesy for him. At least with the Lou Jitsu movies, he could still count on well done and realistic fight choreography as well as a performance by who he considered was a much more charming lead. ...Not that he had any biases or anything.

“You gotta watch ‘em,” Leo insisted as he dragged out yet another plastic vehicle, this one being a moon buggy (or at least, the Sci-fi Hollywood version of one) with a miniature version of the titular character himself in the driver’s seat. “Especially the ones where he’s gotta make an escape in his buggy, they’re SO cool! And he explores planets, and fights the bad aliens and monsters while saving the good ones!”

With a hop and a determined smirk, Leo activated his light-up space sword. Draxum made sure to take a couple steps back as the boy began swinging it around, but thankfully Leo had practiced enough (and seen the movies enough) that he knew the moves well enough. “Jim’s just the best!” Leo continued, “He’s cool, he’s good at sword fighting, and he can always think of a plan to win and get away and save the day! And he gets to do this all while in space! On the moon! In SPACE!”

Draxum smirked. “I take it you like space?”

“Don’t you?”

“Point taken.”

“It just makes everything cooler and awesomer,” Leo shrugged, “And I’m gonna try to go to the Moon sometime too. You know, in the future. But until then, I’m just gonna keep watching Jim go there.” Suddenly, the boy went quiet, glancing around for any eavesdroppers before bringing his voice to a loud whisper. “And don’t tell Dad but… Sometimes I think Jupiter Jim is even better than the Lou Jitsu in the movies!”

Draxum nearly snorted at that, managing to just barely hold back his chuckles as he promised, “I won’t say a word…”

…

“Leon might’ve said that Jupiter Jim was the best, but he’s wrong ‘cause he just can’t see who the REAL best character in those movies is!” With a bit of a dramatic flair, Donnie spun around to reveal the doll he had taken off his bookshelf. “Ta-daaaa~!”

Draxum raised his eyebrow, trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at. The doll had spiky bright-green hair, pink skin, eyes that as far as he concerned were much too big for it, and a blue and purple outfit with an atom symbol on it’s belt. The doll also had a giant plastic hammer in it’s hand. “Oh. Well, it’s-”

“Her name is Atomic Lass!” Donnie stated, smiling as he went into the explanation, “She’s a friend of Jupiter Jim’s! She comes from this town on a far away planet called Uraniumville, where she fights crime using her metal hammer and these really neat radiation beams that come from her hands!”

“Ah, I see,” Draxum nodded. That sounded about right, totally in-line with the style of those movies. “Is that why you like her then? Because she’s powerful?”

“Well, yeah,” Donnie replied, looking at the doll, “But she’s also super cool, and super pretty, and tough and, of course, smart.” He smiled at that. “Really, REALLY smart. That was how she got her powers, ‘cause she was also a scientist on her home planet before she became a crime fighter!”

Draxum nodded again, completely understanding now. When most heroes only seemed to rely on muscles and power boost, he could understand rooting for one who also had a brain. Donnie then sighed, fiddling with the doll’s hair a bit. “I know radiation makes humans sick, but I still wish I could just get some uranium and be a hero too instead of just dying from it. And it’ll take me forever to be strong enough to use a giant metal hammer!”

“...” A bit concerning but nonetheless all part of the childhood fantasy, Draxum assumed. “Why don’t you just focus on the things you can do now that make you feel smart and strong, and then figure out the ‘hero’ parts later?” he suggested.

Donnie thought it over. “...I’m trying to get Pop to let me do another science experiment at home, but now I wanna do something else, like… Like making my own robot! They’ve got books on how to make ‘em, you know! I just gotta find the right library… There’s robots you can buy at the toy store too but, I really wanna make my own - and I KNOW I could!”

With how smart and talented the young boy in purple seemed to be, Draxum had no problem believing that Donnie very well could make his own simple robot. Making a mental note to look up robotic projects for children later on, Draxum just smiled back at him. “Sounds like the perfect project to me.”

Donnie was full-on grinning now, eyes determined and mind already whirling with ideas. “Yeah! First robots, and THEN figuring out a way to get superpowers!”

“Well, I’d still maybe put that idea away for now…”

…

If Mikey wasn’t holding a crayon or marker or paintbrush, then he was usually holding one of his brother’s toys. One of their many action figures, or one of Raph’s plushies or Leo’s toy cars or Donnie’s puzzle toys. All of these toys were happily borrowed, and as long as they were taken care of and eventually put back, the other Jitsu boys didn’t mind whatsoever.

Of course Mikey had his own toys - including a play kitchen where he could ‘practice’ until he was tall enough to safely reach the stove - but more often than not his brothers’ toys were just more interesting to him. ...Still, what he did have that was all his own and that he played with happily was all the more unique, as well as all the more fitting for the young artist.

“Here!” Mikey proudly beamed, shoving the large shoe box into Draxum’s hands, “Look!”

“Wow…” Slowly, Draxum picked up each item one by one. Dolls made out of clothespins and spoons covered in paint, string and googly eyes. Birds and nimals made with paper and sticks and glue (loooots of glue, much to the doctor’s slight annoyance). Creatures that Draxum had no idea what they could be, created with puff balls and chunks of styrofoam and pipe cleaners, but still obviously made with lots of love.

And finally, folded carefully at the bottom of the box, a crane made out of a single sheet of bright orange paper. “Origami, right?” Draxum asked.

“Uh huh,” Mikey nodded, gently taking it from him, “But I didn’t make this one, Papa did! He made it for me the first night we came here to live with him, when I was too excited to fall asleep.” He pulled at the tail a bit, making the crane’s wings flap. “He said that paper cranes caused good luck, and that some people try to make a thousand so they can get a wish! But I don’t need a wish, so I just make ‘em whenever I feel like it.”

“That’s fair,” Draxum smiled, “I’m not sure if you could fit a thousand cranes in this house, even if you wanted to.”

“Heh, yeah, it’d be wayyyy too crowded!” Mikey giggled. He looked at Draxum, and then back at his crane. “...Stay right there!” Mikey told him as he ran over to his small desk, pulling out a sheet of paper. Not having much of a choice, Draxum leaned back slightly on the child’s bed and watched him work.

Mikey was surprisingly meticulous for his age, his tongue poking out in concentration as he carefully did each fold, though not once stopping or making a mistake. It was as if this sort of craft just came naturally to him, or perhaps he’d just done it enough times to know the steps by heart. Either way, it was pretty impressive, Draxum had to admit. Once the actual crane was done, it was onto adding markings and designs with markers and crayon along with the finishing touch of a bit of glitter before finally being given to Draxum.

“Here!” Mikey said, holding the teal crane up as far as he could, “Now you can have a good luck crane too, and it’ll make sure you’ll find a neat science thing at your work, or that you have good dates with my papa!”

Draxum chuckled, taking the crane. “I don’t think I need good luck to have a good time with your father, but thank you very much, Mikey.”

The boy beamed, and quickly climbed back up onto the bed to give Draxum a hug. “You’re welcome!”

The colorful crane never did find its way to Draxum’s lab, whether that was on purpose or on accident. But, it did however find a nice home on his nightstand, silently greeting him each night at bedtime and each morning when he woke up.

So, good luck or no, at least there was the small smile that it always seemed to put on his face whenever he noticed it - which only made sense, considering the place (and the family) it came from...

((It's been several episodes since Raph's mentioned his teddy bear collection in 'Mascot Melee', just SHOW US THE TEDDIES ALREADY! His collection sounded so cute, and I absolutely loved the names he had for them, lol. Also Leo being a huge space/scifi nerd in any incarnation is just amusing to me, heh. But yeah, hope you guys liked this! Next time, more Baron Jitsu with a bit of drama thrown in! See you then!))

[blancheludis]

A/N: @iron-man-bingo square: Ironfam Takeout

Fandom: Marvel, Avengers Charcters: Tony Stark/Pepper Potts, James Rhodes/Carol Danvers, Happy Hogan/May Parker, Peter Parker, Harley Keener, Morgan Stark Tags: Fluff, Humor, Iron Family, Tony Lives Words: 3.223

Summary: Once a week, the whole extended Stark family meets up for dinner. That means unbridled chaos and too much food. Tony did not think he'd ever be this happy.

---

Tony is in the middle of an experiment when all the screens around him go dark except for one, which is now showing the time in giant numbers instead of the specs for the prosthetic leg he had been working on.

“Boss,” FRIDAY speaks up before Tony can be irritated at the interruption. “Mr. Hogan asked me what he should bring for tonight’s dinner.”

For a moment, Tony is confused. Then the date appears helpfully on the screen in front of him, together with a picture of the calendar hanging in their kitchen, where Morgan has written in colourful if crooked letters Family Dinner.

“There’s no way it’s already time for that again,” Tony protests. They have barely cleaned up last week’s mess, so it is surely a mistake that the hungry hordes are about to hijack their home again.

“Masters Harley and Peter are en route, while Mrs. Parker called to say she’ll likely get out of the hospital on time,” FRIDAY supplies in a bright tone. She loves it when the house is full. All of them do, really, especially since Peter moved away for college.

Tony is already packing up his tools – something he has only started doing since Morgan became big enough to reach the worktables – and trusts FRIDAY to save his progress.

“How much time do I have?” he asks, “I need to shower.”

“I dare say,” FRIDAY responses without missing a beat, her voice full of sass. These days, she is almost as emotive as JARVIS had been. The lack of constant danger in their everyday life has helped her to relax into her role.

“Hush, Fri,” Tony admonishes with a smile. “There’s a reason your sensors don’t pick up smells. I’m not that cruel.”

Especially during the times Harley and Peter are down here with him that would be unnecessarily mean. They might not care that they are covered in grease and sweat after a daylong working binge, but Pepper advised them to make better use of the workshop’s ventilation system.

“You have approximately one hour left,” FRIDAY informs him.

Since nobody is ever on time but either too early or too late, that does not help Tony overly much, but he can at least make a good impression with Pepper by being up to help her.

“Tell Pepper I’ll join her in twenty minutes,” Tony says as he turns towards the stairs.

After a minute, FRIDAY replies, “She says she’s going to watch the time.” Disguised threats, Tony knows, are a sure sign that Pepper has not yet forgiven him for the BBQ incident during the last family dinner. “You have not yet answered Mr. Hogan’s question about what you want to eat.”

Tony takes the time to stop on the stairs to roll his eyes at FRIDAY. “Cheeseburgers,” he says, drawing out the word. “I’m worried about your memory. That’s like the only thing I ever order.”

Except for –

“Two months ago, you ordered curry,” FRIDAY argues immediately.

“And I’ll never do so again,” Tony says with a shudder.

There is still photographic evidence of him and Peter hanging over the sink to shovel precious cold water down their throats in the hopes of alleviating the burning.

Tony has almost reached the bathroom upstairs, when FRIDAY speaks up again. “Miss Morgan agrees with your choice of cheeseburgers.”

“Of course she does,” Tony says importantly, not holding back his smile. “She inherited my superior taste.

When Pepper insisted on having an actual dining room in the house, Tony had called her crazy. They did not need a room and table to comfortably seat twelve people. Their days of dinner parties and business meetings at home are thankfully over.

Now, however, the tastefully done room is sometimes not enough for all of them when the whole extended family comes over. Especially since everybody insists on bringing their own food.

These nights often still feel like a miracle to Tony. Not once in his life has he ever believed in getting his happily ever after, not even when he had something truly precious to fight for. Family has always been something abstract, something for other people. Tony has never felt he deserved it. He is still not quite sure whether he has done enough to deserve this now, but he knows he would not change it for anything. He has gotten more than he could have ever dreamed of.

Happy is the first to arrive, bringing an armful of paper bags smelling of cheese and fries. Always drawn to the good stuff, Morgan latches herself to his legs and makes sure to secure a chair next to his at the table. Whenever Tony sees them together, he is eternally grateful that his daughter has never had to worry about having the affection of the people in her life.

Tony is just done with putting glasses on the table when the door opens and Harley and Peter come in, laden with at least five pizza cartons and the flushed faces that easily betray they have enthusiastically discussed some project or other on the flight over.

“May is bringing larb,” Peter announces as he drops the cartons on the table and lets himself fall into a chair.

Harley follows suit, breathing heavily as if they hiked here from Boston instead of simply jumping into the private jet Tony has made available for them.

Happy reacts to that piece of information by making more room around May’s place on his other side. She always brings some kind of salad too, and sometimes dessert, as if they do not have enough food already. Over the years, it has even become edible.

“Just for herself, I hope,” Tony protests just out of habit.

What started as a nice way to accommodate all their different tastes by everyone bringing something small for themselves on top of whatever Pepper and Tony put on the table, has soon escalated. Now, it feels like everybody is bringing enough for everybody else. Plus some extra in case they are very hungry that night.

“I very much hope not,” Peter counters, offended. “I’ve been craving good larb for ages. It’s just impossible to get in Boston.”

Next to him, Harley rolls his eyes but nods dutifully. It is truly a miracle that MIT is still standing with the both of them going there.

“As, apparently, is pizza,” Tony points out dryly. He counts the cartons again and finds he has missed two in his initial assessment.

“You should back down now,” Harley threatens good-naturedly, “Peter and I are starving and we’re going to defend this heavenly New York pizza with all we’ve got.”

Looking closely, Tony finds a tomato sauce stain on Peter’s shirt. He would bet all the money he has that they have already eaten at least one of the pizzas on their way here.

“Are we?” Peter asks, distracted by trying to look into the paper bags around Happy, having to fight Morgan for them.

“Yes,” Harley answers firmly, then glares around the table, making a motion to hug all the pizza cartons closer to himself.

It makes Tony wonder whether he and Rhodey have ever been this ridiculous about food or anything else. He decides not to ask, though. Starting the evening with embarrassing stories can never end well.

As everybody arrives, they end up with a table full of cartons and paper wrappings. In the beginning, Pepper and May had attempted to keep things civilised and arranged all the food on actual plates, working out a system to get everyone equal access to the different foods.

These days, they simply dump everything on the table. Sometimes, they do not even bother with individual plates anymore. It is as chaotic as it is charming, and makes everything more real.

When everybody has arrived, the table is straining to keep upright under the weight of all the food. Peter and Harley have not only brought the pizza but also, strangely, mac and cheese. Pepper organised a giant plate of Italian antipasti as well as some pasta dishes. May brings enough larb to feed an army, additional to naan and an over-sized bowl of salad. Tony and Morgan hamster the burgers and fries. Happy brought more Thai and pastries. Even Rhodey and Carol are there tonight. They are usually responsible for adding an exotic touch to their meals, and unpack loads of strange-looking sweets from whatever place in the universe they have been travelling to last.

Sometimes, some of the Avengers join them, and when the Guardians are close by, dinner usually dissolves into outright revelry very quickly. Tonight, though, it is just family.

Dinner itself is accompanied by a dozen conversations happening at once as everyone is catching up with each other and debates get started and old arguments get picked up again. They all have more or less seriously fixed seats but those belong to more civilised meals in smaller groups. During nights like this, they change seats so often that everyone ends up sitting next to everybody else at some point.

Tony enjoys the fact that he does not have to put on his game face here. These nights do not need an anchor. He is not here as the host but simply as a part of the colourful whole. Pepper had more problems with just letting things happen than he had, but he knows she now likes it as much as he does. The extended Stark family does not need to be organised or controlled. They fit in together just like they are.

“Since Harley is almost done with MIT –” Peter is telling Tony at some point after they actually managed to eat all but one of the pizzas.

“I still have half a year to get through,” Harley throws in dryly from the side, but then turns back to his conversation with May.

Peter rolls his eyes but otherwise ignores Harley’s argument. “We thought of maybe opening a small SI office there. It’d make sense to pick up bright minds before they scatter all over the country.” Almost as an afterthought, he adds, “Also, we could do some real work.”

Peter, Tony knows, does not want to be left behind alnoe at MIT. He has made the best of the five years he lost after the Snap, but there is no changing the fact that Harley will graduate soon and then Peter will be alone at MIT. Or not, considering the idea Peter is just now trying to feed to Tony as an actual plan.

Ever since meeting in the aftermath of the second battle against Thanos, the two boys have been inseparable, as close as brothers. Something more serious than a graduation would have to happen for those two to willingly go their separate ways.  

Irrationally, that makes Tony proud. They are not his sons, but it feels that way, more with each time he sees them. Morgan has been calling them her brothers for an eternity already too.

“It’s a good plan,” Tony says, even though he knows there will be a whole lot more work involved than just buying a building, writing their name out front, and recruiting some gifted student right out of college, to create an actually profitable outpost for the company. That is not the real purpose of this, of course. “You need to learn about the ins and outs of SI and how to lead a company anyway.”

Peter blushes a bit, just like he always does when Tony mentions anything even remotely reminding him of the fact that all three of Tony’s kids will inherit Stark Industries together. Tony has talked it through with Pepper to find the best solution for everyone, not wanting to either steal the company from Morgan nor force it on her.

The easiest solution would naturally be for Pepper and Tony to live long enough for Morgan to know and decide for herself what she wants – and they do not wish to die any time soon or fall into any more near-death situations and wars ever again – but Tony could never quite change his habit of always having contingency plans.

“Harley’s been taking business classes,” Peter says and seems to gear himself up for further arguments.

Reaching out, Tony puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I said yes,” he says firmly, not fighting the smile spreading on his lips.

Pepper might just kill him later for making more work for them, but it is worth it when Peter beams back at him and quickly turns around to drag Harley off, telling him the good news.

“He’s going crazy, worrying about this,” May tells him once the boys are out of earshot.

That only increases Tony’s resolve to talk to Harley about this. The two of them might be attached at the hips, but Tony is not going to let one make the decision for the other.

It is generally assumed that Harley will start working for Stark Industries once he has graduated, but Tony is not going to hold him to that if he wants to do something else with his life. For a while or forever. Howard used to push Tony in directions he never wanted to go, and he is not going to repeat the same mistake with his own children.

“I’ll take care of it,” Tony promises May.

Even after years of close friendship and calling each other family, he is surprised when May simply nods gratefully and considers the matter dealt with, trusting him with her child.

Deep down, Tony wishes they would all just move back home, or close enough at least that they do not need to take one of the quinjets to come for dinner. Until they consider that, he is just going to make sure they get what they want. Building one’s own place in life might be important, but so is getting help from one’s family.

At some point, Harley, Peter and Morgan vanish down to the workshop to catch up with what Tony has been working on as well as enjoying each other company out of the adults’ line of sight. Up in the dining room, it does not get any quieter or less chaotic. Tony loves that. Everyone is so alive.

“Rhodey-bear,” Tony exclaims as he lets himself fall into a seat next to his best friend. For a moment, they just watch their loved ones together. Pepper and Carol are sticking their heads together at the opposite side of the table, while Happy laughs loudly at a story May is telling.

Life is good. But, Tony knows, it can always be better.

“What about you two?” Tony asks. “How’s the circle of life going?”

For years now, he has been bugging Rhodey about making things with Carol official, of settling down somewhere. As much as they are travelling the universe, they must have found a place they can see themselves growing old in – preferably close by, perhaps on the other side of the lake.

“If I’d told anyone ten years ago that Tony Stark would become the family-oriented one between us,” Rhodey jokes, obviously deflecting, “they’d have locked me up and thrown away the key.”

He is not wrong, of course, but sometimes it is not easy to know what is really important until it is right in front of him.

“I’m just saying,” Tony continues, not letting go this easily, “if you keep going at this pace, Morgan will be out of the house too before the Rhodes-Danvers kids will cause chaos.”

For someone who has refused for so long to even acknowledge the possibility of children, Tony can now not get enough of them. He would love to become an uncle to Rhodey’s kid.

“I firmly believe that our child will not become a maniac like all of yours,” Rhodey protests firmly and notices his mistake far too late.

“Hah,” Tony exclaims, grinning wildly, “so you are talking about starting a family.”

Scowling, Rhodey shrugs. It is not serious, though, Tony can see that easily. “That was not my point.”

“No, but I’m very proud of how my children turned out,” Tony says, as usual savouring the taste of saying his children, “so you won’t be able to tease me with it.”

As one, they look in the direction of the stairs to the basement, as if they can actually see through the walls and floor.

“I’d say they are a step up from the murder bots.”

Tony laughs. He is not actually sure that, if left to their own devices, his kids are any less destructive than DUM-E with his fire-extinguisher.

“Did I tell you that Morgan’s working on her first bot?”

His little girl never ceases to make Tony proud. He would be even if she had no inclination to ever voluntarily set a food into a workshop, but it certainly multiplies his joy that she build thinks with as much eagerness as her brothers and father.

“With you as a role model, I’ll be surprised if the house is still standing in time for the next family dinner,” Rhodey teases but looks excited too. Beneath all that military composure, Rhodey is still the boy who went to MIT with Tony.

Tony leans back in his seat, the world’s biggest smile on his face.

“We will enjoy proving you wrong.”

  Hours later, after the kids have come back up for a second dinner and they are all stuffed full enough to feel like they are going to burst, Tony looks at the veritable battlefield that is their dinner table.

“We are going to eat left-overs for days,” he complains. “Why does that always happen?”

“It’s not always,” Pepper argues next to him, leaning against his shoulder. “Just after the big family dinners. And when it’s just the boys coming. Or when Morgan thinks with her eyes instead of her stomach. Or when Happy decides that you’ve skipped too many meals again.”

They look at each other and start laughing, the happy sound of people being exactly where they want to be.

“It really is every time,” Happy agrees, stopping his half-hearted attempt to start cleaning without actually getting up.

“Look at the good side,” Peter says, rubbing his belly, even while he eyes the table in contemplation. He really does not know when to stop. “You’ll save so much time if you don’t have to cook for the next days.”

“Strangely enough,” Tony drawls, “pizza with larb isn’t one of my favourites.”

“That’s because you’re old and boring,” Harley says as he catches Peter’s hand on its way to a half-empty carton of fries. “You’re missing your sense of adventure.”

“Or I just have some common sense left that the younger generation seems to lack.”

Tony had enough adventures for several lifetimes. He has fought his battles, has lost some of them but won the ones that matter. He is allowed to be boring now. Then again, life in this family is never boring and he would not have it any other way.

They laugh together as they clean up, promising each other to not bring as much food next week. That is a lie and they all know it. If there is too much food, that only means that they are all there. And that is the only thing that matters.

[17cafe]

seventeen college au valentine’s date

(with member of your choice!)

so a little backstory

you and him are in the same art class

and you both always make these little doodles that take just a minute while you do other work

they were always super cute and to be honest it made you find him super cute

long story short things kept happening and u two ended up with crushes on each other hehe

and you found out you liked each other hehehe

just one day before it was valentine’s day he got to class before you

which he was very relieved about

and tucked his little doodle for you under a tin of markers that were at your spot

when you got to class you saw the corner of paper sticking out and u were like

“oh wow i wonder who could have done this”

super sarcasm

you look around for him though but don’t see him anywhere

he was hiding behind a corner looking at u kind of sneaky

to see your reaction

but he was too shy to like be beside you when you looked at the doodle

when you moved the tin off of it and picked it up

and unfolded it 

you saw that the drawing was of you and him

and you were both holding this huge candy heart with equally huge smiles

and on the heart had the words “be mine?”

but in the bottom corner of the paper was another drawing

much smaller

of you both eating the candy heart because why let it go to waste

and you laugh then smile

when he sees you laugh he’s like hooo boy okay yes this is good

and he comes up to you finally

you’re actually so intrigued at how good the drawing is though it isn’t a normal doodle and you jump when he puts his hands on your shoulders

so you turn around and you’re smiling super wide and he’s smiling super wide and you’re like aWWWWW and hug him super tight

the other students in the room were going awww too

and some were ignoring u too but hey that’s okay

in response to the “be mine?” on the heart you say “yes do you even have to ask !!!”

he’s like i wasn’t sure! you can’t blame me! you play footsies under the table with the guy that sits across from us

you’re like uh do u really think that means he’s my boyfriend or something??

he’s like yeah

and you’re like hhahhaha !!! and he’s like ahaah

then the teacher is like okay kids sit down

and class starts

later on after school you stay a couple extra minutes to finish your assignment because you were almost done!! thankfully art was last class of the day for you

he stays with you of course 

after a little while it was just you and him left because the other students all rushed outta there and the teacher left to go bake some clay

you bring up the footsies thing again and you start ranting

not angry ranting but just ranting nonstop

and he literally out of nowhere was like hey...and pecks your lips real quick so you stop talking

you actually gasp and put your pencil crayon down before leaning and kissing him back but on the cheek

he blushes SO HARD

he grabs your hand and bag and drawing and just pulls u out of the room and ur like WHAT are you doing

he doesn’t say anything and pulls you to the library

and sits at a secluded table and it’s so sosoososooo sweet

he just holds your hand and plays with your fingers and he just asks about your day and kind of mumbles things sometimes that u ask him to repeat

and it’s always something like “oh.. i just said you look cute when you make that face..”

the smile and faint blush never leaves his face as you guys talk with each other.. until one of the library workers is like hey we’re closing get out

now its an hour and a half since school ended and u guys are lke woah what

but he’s still holding onto your hand and grabs your bag for u again and leads you outta there

and there’s nobody in the hallways so u guys just wander around in the school and keep talking

but soon your phone rings and ur like whoop! i know what that is gotta go home 

and you pout because you love spending time with him…

but he’s like “no that face is too pretty to pout”

boom your mood is instantly brighter

and he just smiles because he Knows and he’s like alright which way

you’re like ????

he’s like which way to your home

and he obviously walks you home

of course before you open the door to go inside he kisses your forehead.. and he’s like I’ll see you tomorrow right?? it’s valentines day you better come to school :((

and you’re like yes of course i will see you tomorrow!! and he grins and winks and says “tomorrow it is then”

when you go inside and close the door you just sigh and squeal and that dork is jumping around as he walks away and hops all the way home wow he’s such a happy boy

so tomorrow comes aka ~valentine’s day~

art class is right in the morning 

and neither of you have afternoon classes !!

he got up early to look good for u.. he did his hair how you like it and wore a button up shirt with these nice black pants ooo

he got you candy hearts like the drawing and some flowers but shh you don’t know yet

also he drew another picture last night but wait for that ok

he came early because he wanted to be there before you again

he’s checking his hair and breath and making sure his shirt is all nicely resting with no wrinkles or anything

and he’s waiting in the art room beside the door when you come in

you don’t see him n hes like yes my plan worked

he silently follows you and waits until you sit down and whispers “happy valentine’s day~~” and holds the flowers and candy and folded drawing out in front of you and ur like WOAHH

OH BOY

HE PUTS ALL THE STUFF ON YOUR TABLE AND LITERALLY JUST. SPINS YOUR CHAIR

and kiss e s you

and it’s short but passionate and like it sucked the life out of you that was so unexpected

and he pulls back at looks at you all dazed and smiles

both of you are so red

he turns your chair back around and tucks you in before he takes his seat next to you and points to the flowers because he doesn’t want you looking at him he is TOO SHY

“do you like them?? they aren’t valentine colours but they reminded me of you~” because there’s yellow flowers mixed with the pink

and inside u are a total mess like crying but a good cry with heart eyes..

he’s giggling like crazy and you unfold the drawing finally and this boy

“im glad you like the flowers because–”

he drew your faces from side angles and your noses are touching and like the other drawing you both have those big scrunchy smiles

and you CANT you just hug him so tight and wrap your legs around him too because your chairs are against each other like one long chair and just

the other students coming in now are all smiley and some “awww” at you guys and you pull away but

he opens the candy container thing and picks one and brings it up for you to read before putting it in your hand

it’s one that said “be mine?”

more people are smiling and cooing at you guys and you hide your beet red face

he hides his face too but sees you doing it still and whispers in your ear

“you okay?”

you nod but still hide your face and he rubs your back and leans his head on the table right beside yours and hes trying to look at you

“lemme see that pretty face? pleeease?”

soon enough when class starts though he goes and gets the paints and brushes you always use & your project and brings everything to you

he gets to work but wraps his leggies around yours and you’re like ??? but he just keeps doing his own thing

u let it happen no questions just smiles

at the end of class he cleans up all his and your stuff for you too :’) 

and you assume he just didn’t bring a bag or anything today because he has nothing with him

he just picks up all of your stuff and says

“we’re going out to get lunch today!”

and you’re just like ok sunshine!

he’s like o no i should be calling you that...

so you’re like “well why didn’t you”

“dang u right.. i’m sorry prince/ss” and he looks around once again seeing practically nobody in the room then kisses your cheeks like 10 times

all this luck of being nearly alone in a public place wow

you guys go to this small casual restaurant about a block away

you to pick a table as he orders and pays in advance because he knows it’s a good place they never mess up

you come back and ask “what did you order for us?”

he smiles at the word “us” and looks down shyly 

doesn’t respond and picks up where you left off from the conversation after school yesterday

he lightly takes hold of your hand and stares at you so admiringly as you talk

the food all comes soon and ok are you ready

spring rolls with the sauce in a heart shaped dish

sandwiches cut in the shape of a heart

red drink with heart straw

dessert was a cupcake with pink icing and a bit of ice cream in the shape of a heart too

and you were like wo w they’re really in the valentine’s spirit!! and he was like hehe yeah

but really he had to request it and pay extra for all that but it was worth it because he loved when you giggled and smiled so much

when you guys finish eating and talking and get up 

and when you’re at the door just about to leave the waiter comes up with one last thing

a heart balloon!! and hands it to you and u look at your boy

he shrugs and he’s like idk where that came from

you’re like well i do you goober and peck his lips and he’s like heHEEe

he caresses your cheek and kisses you back but you pull away kind of quickly because this is a public place

after leaving the restaurant you guys just walk around the neighbourhood talking and laughing and sneaking lil kissies in here and there

you end up laying in the field by your school and again luck is on your side because nobody else is out there and it’s a bit chilly but sunny and nice

so it’s just you guys on the grass

holding hands and he sings this little song he made for you after getting over his shyness about it

and it makes you fall so much harder

you tied the balloon to your wrist but somehow it came undone

and at one point the balloon flies up and you yell !! and he jumps up and you do too and jump onto his back and you touch the ribbon but it gets away :((

you huff and you’re so sad and lay limp on his back n in a soft voice he’s like “baby it’s okay hey it’s okay”

extra cuddles and kisses as u pretend to stay sad and say it was the most special balloon because he got it for you

tickles you a little so you laugh and man

keeps kissing u so much he can not get enough

they’re always so soft and warm just so delicate

it’s overwhelming because you’ve never really kissed before and now so many in one day !!! but it’s exciting!!

at one point you’re kind of on top of him attacking him in kisses to “get back” at him n you bring your hands up for better balance and end up tickling his sides and he jumps

you’re like >:))

continue the tickling and “revenge” kisses and omg

even though he’s laughing so hard all you hear is silence because you’re just focused on his face and how purely happy he seems and it’s like wow.. i caused that

but you end up laying side by side fiddling with each others fingers

you see the dot of the balloon way up in the clear sky

you two just spend hours at the field sitting and talking and sometimes getting up and running away from the other as they threatened to tickle you 

soon enough it’s already getting dark?? you two were so caught up in each other that you didn’t even realize it

he thought dinner plans were too formal as you two just became a couple and you already went on the cute lunch date !! so he walked you home before it got too dark

you started rubbing your arms because you got cold

you had a jacket on already but he put his coat over your shoulders as well

when he dropped you off he got a little pouty

and you kissed him to make him smile again

of course he did

and of course he held your hands as he looked at you while you talked

he stood outside the door with you for a long time but then you got too cold and got a shiver

and he was like oh no okay go inside

he walked home in the dark and he was a little scared but that didn’t matter because he was so head over heels for you

when he got home he checked his phone and saw a message from you

but even before replying he called his mom and told her all about you omg

he couldn’t help himself

this... angel boy

likes you so much 

he will always do anything to make you smile 

and always protect you and help you and support you 

and love you 

and he knows you’ll do all the same

[livingcorner]

42 Furniture and Fixtures in Your Kitchen + Amazing Kitchen Home Tours – Toot Sweet 4 Two

42 Furniture and Fixtures in Your Kitchen – is that even possible? After all, when you exclude all the things in the kitchen’s cabinets and drawers, such as kitchen utensils, tools, gadgets, cooking implements, supplies, equipment, accessories, pantry food, refrigerated food, etc., what’s left? Just a table, a few chairs, maybe a hanging light, and some decorations, right?

You're reading: 42 Furniture and Fixtures in Your Kitchen + Amazing Kitchen Home Tours – Toot Sweet 4 Two

Well, let’s look at the picture above of a beautiful white kitchen in a smaller L-shaped kitchen space.

Furniture and Fixtures in This Space

In that picture, this is what you see from left to right:

Kitchen chairs (similar but two different kinds; did you catch that?)

Kitchen table

Placemats

Dinner plates

Salt and pepper shaker

Vase with flowers

Three overhead hanging lights

White ceramic vase to the left of the sink

Window shades

Glass jar with kitchen tools to the right of the sink

Basket with different dried bouquets

Several canisters with dried pasta

Two hanging ledges/shelves

Wooden vase with eucalyptus leaves (top shelf)

Another basket with pinecones (top shelf)

Two more glass canisters (top shelf)

Three gray glass bottles (bottom shelf)

Two separate plants in two separate pots (bottom shelf)

Two small carafes – maybe oil & vinegar? (bottom shelf)

Stove/Oven

Range hood

Two wooden chopping boards

Two more glass canisters

Refrigerator

What you don’t see, but still in this kitchen area, are:

Drapes (they are off to the left; I cropped them out of this photo)

Hardware for the drapery and window shades

Light bulbs

And that’s just in this small kitchen!   27 things just in that one small area!

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This post is one of 55 lists of 42 household items in this series.  This endless, unremitting, ongoing series…

Let’s back up a minute…

If you are new to this blog, welcome!  I create lists of 42 for home inventory purposes.  I started this series of household inventory lists several years ago because I’d been working on my own personal household inventory list.  You see, I have a vested interest in knowing what is in our home, and documenting it, so that should an emergency occur again, we are not left relying on memory.

If you are a new reader to this blog, we lost our home in the 2007 Southern California wildfire known as the Witch Fire and we were sorely unprepared for the recovery process.  Since I’m doing this for myself, I decided to share on my blog so that if readers want to do the same, they have some basic tools with which to start!

Here’s another photo of this beautiful kitchen so that you can see the drapes and the amazing vaulted ceiling!  From this vantage point, this kitchen area isn’t small after all; it’s just limited on counter space and kitchen amenities.

Getting back to this list of 42…

This list of 42 furniture and fixtures in your kitchen is meant to include items that are moveable in your kitchen, i.e., not permanently attached to your home.  For example, kitchen cabinets are attached to your walls, but a free-standing kitchen hutch or buffet it not.  Why am I sharing this distinction with you?  If you are, indeed, creating a list of personal property for your homeowner’s insurance company for a loss you have suffered, items that are permanently attached to your home are usually covered under the “dwelling” portion of your policy.

Read more: What is the origin and meaning of the phrase “all day” when used in a commercial kitchen?

So, in the case of this beautiful white kitchen that I’m using as an example, the sink, oven/stove, range hood, and flooring would all be considered part of the “dwelling,” so you wouldn’t include them on your list of personal property.  But, always be sure to talk directly to your assigned insurance claims adjuster just to clarify these distinctions.

Discloser:  This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Here’s more kitchen furniture and fixtures inspo for you… the photo above is a different beautiful white kitchen!  This one has more of an industrial vibe with a large center workspace island made of wood and steel and vintage-inspired industrial bar stools.  What a great space!

Are you working on your own home inventory project, whether for personal use or as the result of a homeowner’s insurance claim?  If you are struggling with this endless project (it took me 9 months of working nights and weekends to create our personal property inventory), I’ve created a tool to help you see it through.  The Complete Book of Lists: Room-by-Room Checklists for Your Household Inventory Project combines the 55 lists on this blog plus 20 new lists and rolls them up into one eBook with 75 different home inventory checklists – all for the low price of $9.99!

Check out the complete book!

Here’s a great panorama view of a different loft kitchen.  This one is both black and white with lots of cool industrial details, including similar vintage-inspired rustic kitchen stools, that make this kitchen a standout!  I guess I’m attracted to these loft-type spaces.  In my mind, that’s been a dream of mine – to live downtown in a loft apartment with an amazing view.

Wait…I’ve already been there, done part of that!  I did live downtown in an apartment with an amazing view!  It just wasn’t a loft.  And I’ll let you in on a little secret…living downtown in a busy city, even in a high rise building, can be very noisy!

We lived there for 13 months while we rebuilt our home after the wildfire.  While our apartment, located on the 8th floor of a 9-story building, had an amazing view of San Diego Bay and the city to the west, it was incredibly noisy.  Sirens going by day and night!  There was a hospital located about a mile from us and all I can assume is that more than half of those sirens were ambulances heading towards the hospital.  When you romanticize about living is a great downtown space, that’s one of the things you don’t think about – noise.

This beautiful country farmhouse kitchen features a rustic kitchen island that’s the definition of a working table and an equally rustic hanging pot rack.  There’s even a vintage radio next to the sleeping kitty.  Full of country charm with light streaming through the windows, who wouldn’t want to wake up and watch the sunrise in this charming kitchen?

One more panorama photo of another beautiful industrial-style kitchen space to inspire you before we move on to the list of 42, this one with a cool brick wall.  These rustic bar stools are sure popular, aren’t they?  By the way, in the kitchen space above, the kitchen island is not permanently attached to the floor (see the “crawl” space?).  This leads me to  believe this particular kitchen island would not be part of the “dwelling,” but rather “personal property.”

42 Furniture and Fixtures in Your Kitchen

Your kitchen isn’t just about what you can stuff into your cabinets, drawers, and pantry, but also includes the furniture, fixtures, decorations, dinnerware, and other tools of the trade needed to make the most used room in your home an enjoyable retreat.  Check out this list of 42 Furniture and Fixtures in Your Kitchen to make sure that nothing is forgotten!

Kitchen table

Kitchen chairs

Area rugs

Draperies, rods, brackets, valances, curtains, shutters

Blinds or window shades

Lighting – overhead, lamps, sconces and light bulbs

Kitchen hutch, kitchen buffet

Kitchen bar stools, counter stools

Stepstool

Bench or benches

Decorative knick-knacks

Pictures, prints, photos, posters & frames

Plants and plant containers

Hanging pot rack

Refrigerator, freezer

Microwave, microwave cart/stand

Stove and/or cooktop

Oven – single or double

Range hood

Dinner plates, salad plates, dessert plates

Pasta bowls, cereal bowls, fruit bowls, dessert bowls

Cookbooks

Bookends, cookbook holder

Bookshelves, ledges

Water glasses,  tumblers, juice glasses

Cups and saucers, mugs, travel mugs

Wine goblets, champagne flutes, cocktail glasses

Dessert, parfait, mini glasses

Flatware set; butter knives

Serving spoons, serving forks, gravy ladles

Ice tea spoons, mini spoons & forks

Candles and candleholders

Vases

Lazy Susan

Chalkboard, chalk, clipboard, pens

Grocery bags and totes

Serving bowls and platters

Baskets and trays

Pitchers, carafes, decanters

Gravy boat, candy/nut dishes

Canisters

Free-standing kitchen island, kitchen island cart

Whew!  Did I leave anything out?  Let me know – I’ll add it to a future list!

What furniture do you need in your kitchen?

So, what furniture do you need in your kitchen?  Obviously, answering that question starts with evaluating your space.  Depending on the size of your space, the actual “furniture” in the space is contingent upon your available space.   I’m linking to a couple of decor bloggers for some great kitchen decoration and decor inspiration.

The above photo is of Karianne’s gorgeous farmhouse-style kitchen at Thistlewood Farms.  The actual furniture in this kitchen space includes the two kitchen counter stools, a freestanding kitchen island, and a kitchen hutch to the right displaying all her dishes.  What you can barely see peeking over the end of the other counter are four more white counter stools.

And her kitchen fixtures include that gorgeous chandelier, a beautiful range hood, rug, and other things you can’t see off camera range.  Karianne’s home is stunning – I encourage you to visit her beautiful blog for more design and decor inspiration!

The side-by-side photos above are of Taryn Whiteaker’s contemporary kitchen from her blog by the same name.  The actual furniture pieces in her beautiful kitchen are the “live-edge table,” kitchen chairs, kitchen counter chairs, area rug, and two amazing industrial-style open shelves.

That live-edge table truly elevates the space to fine kitchen dining, doesn’t it?  The kitchen fixtures that we can see in these photos include the great lights she’s selected hanging over the kitchen island and above the open shelves.  Be sure to visit Taryn’s blog for more great decor ideas and lots of beautiful tablescapes!

This amazing French country kitchen belongs to Karen at Sanctuary Home Decor.  Even though the only actual “furniture” pieces in this space are the kitchen counter stools, I had to share this gorgeous kitchen with readers!  Isn’t that range hood amazing?  And the beams in her kitchen…no words!  Karen has two homes; be sure to stop by her blog to see even more amazingly beautiful home decor.

This beautiful white modern transitional kitchen space belongs to Tana at Your Marketing BFF.  In this photo, you’ll notice the following pieces of kitchen furniture:  chairs, kitchen table, bench, kitchen counter stools, and hanging lights. Did I mention that Tana is my website’s designer?  We met many years ago at a blogging conference and became fast friends.  Not only is she an amazing website designer, but she’s a great teacher about all things blog.  Be sure to visit her site not only for decor inspiration but for help with all your blogging questions, too.

Read more: The Best Way to Clean Every Type of Kitchen Flooring

And Randi’s kitchen from her blog, Randi Garrett Design, is the ultimate in feminine glam!  Gold lighting fixtures, gold drawer and cabinet pulls, gold faucet on the sink, and gold controls on the stove, elevate her kitchen to rock star status!  Check out her blog for gorgeous design inspiration not only for the kitchen but for the rest of the house, too.  Oh, by the way, her site, too, was designed by Tana at Your Marketing BFF!

Last on the kitchen home tour is a beachy vibe with a modern twist.  This colorful kitchen breakfast nook started with a modern simple round pedestal table.  Adding the casual wooden wishbone armchairs painted aqua transform this nook to beachy casual and the aqua chevron-striped window shades add to the contemporary look.  The drama is added by hanging two identical paintings sideways, one upside down.

These two paintings flipped sideways are called Delta Dream and were created by my father, Chuck.  He was an Air Force pilot whose hobby was art; he passed away after a long life of creativity in 2013.  I miss him every day but I’m fortunate to be surrounded by his amazing talent displayed in my home.  He created many beautiful works of art throughout his life (both paintings and sculptures) and I’m thrilled to be able to share the paintings with the world.  Reproductions are available on Great Big Canvas.

Will you do me a favor?  Would you share my post on social media?  The pinnable images at the top of this post and the one below are for your Pinterest boards so that you can bookmark this post and come back to it later.  Thanks for sharing!

And don’t forget to sign up to receive my newsletter in your inbox.  As a thank you, I’ll send you a freebie!  Look for the sign-up boxes near the top of this post and again at the bottom of this post.  Thanks so much!

Tootles,

Related Posts from Toot Sweet 4 Two’s Archives:

42 Must-Have Kitchen Utensils

42 Pantry Foods to Stock for Emergencies

42 Things in Your Living Room, Family Room, and/or Great Room

You Might Also Like:

The Forest Modern: Our Chic Black Butler’s Pantry from Shauna at The House of Silver Lining

Kitchen Stalking – The Most Incredible Kitchens Around from Coco at Coco Cozy

Our Best Tips for Styling Open Shelves in the Kitchen from Cathy and Garrett at The Grit and Polish

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Source: https://livingcorner.com.au Category: Kitchen

source https://livingcorner.com.au/42-furniture-and-fixtures-in-your-kitchen-amazing-kitchen-home-tours-toot-sweet-4-two/

[kariachi]

Chapter 10!! The rest of the reception.

Dinner went well, which probably shouldn’t have been so surprising given how many people had worked themselves ragged setting this whole event up and were ready to kill if something went to shit. The menu was varied, so so varied, and everything was plentiful. Meats, breads, fish, produce from at least seven planets (exactly seven planets), as alcohol as those that could drink it could ask for, and plenty other beverages for those that couldn’t. The sheer numbers were astounding.

“So,” Argit asked quietly as people gathered from the piles that never seemed to get smaller, “this is normal?”

“Oh fuck no,” Kevin replied, “I have never seen this much food in one room. I think it’s cause the marriage is political.”

“Huh.”

Sure eventually they ran out of niblings and younger siblings to send scrambling for food, but they could deal and Kevin even continued to let Argit steal off his plate.

The problem, was that halfway through the meal the focus turned from food to all the other usual reception things…

~~

Speeches were a thing that happened at weddings. Well, technically there was supposed to be one or two speeches, maybe a few toasts, but not with this group. The moment his mother stood up Kevin groaned with immediate exhaustion and the talking never stopped.

~~

There were baby pictures to go with both Eva and Vilgax’s toasts. Or, well, toddler pictures. Still there were a lot of them, projected onto the back wall as their parents spoke, so the pure embarrassment managed to help them fight back the tears all the praise, adoration, and nostalgia brought up.

“Thank fuck we were cute,” Kevin said and Argit nodded beside him.

“Can you imagine if we weren’t? I’d have to kill everyone here.”

“And I’m pretty sure I already vowed to help.”

~~

Looma made a speech. Nobody knew who’d given her the go ahead to make a speech, but she did. The only saving grace was that her husband was clearly as embarrassed by her retelling of Kevin’s attempt to become engaged to her years ago and assurances- with examples- of how well the first year of marriage could go as Kevin himself was.

Argit spent the entire thing patting his shoulder and snickering.

~~

Revenge came in the form of his sister. Kari stood up, drink in hand, and began a five minute series of the chirps, chitters, mews, and squeaks that made up her usual speech patterns. It wasn’t Erinaen, and the translators didn’t pick it up, but there was a clear tone to the monologue and her sisters would occasionally clap.

“I do not understand a word she’s saying,” Kevin said in an aside to Argit. The smaller man’s head was lain down on the table, arms over his muzzle and ears pressed back against his mane.

“Thank The Depths for small miracles.” Briefly Kevin stared at him as his sister continued on and he whined, squeezing his eyes shut.

“I’m gonna want more wine, aren’t I?”

“Probably.”

~~

Ben’s speech was a mess. There’d be worrying on all sides about whether he’d decide to make one- for very obvious reasons, given exactly what family Kevin had just married into- and there’d been hope until he, two beers and half a glass of wine into things, got up on his chair so he could be seen by everyone present. It started okay (“I’ve never spoken at a wedding before, but hey, you only live once”), rolled into traditional levels of embarrassing (“-seriously, I’m sure all of us could tell a different story of having to beat someone off Kev with a stick-”), then to a near disaster (“-and Vilgax, who I think weeeeee aren’t concerned with, because this is about Kevin and Argit-”) which was only averted by the warning growls of the Osmosian guests. But in the end, well…

“I guess what I’m trying to say is just- My best friend just got married. One of the most amazing people I know just got married and now he’s leaving, off to a different system with this guy I don’t know. And I’m sure he’ll make him happy- God help him if he doesn’t- and I wish them nothing but the best, but, I don’t know. At least remember to write? Because every one of us here is gonna miss you and getting to know your man.”

In the end, it was a pretty good speech.

~~

“Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, if you think moving is going to somehow ruin my ability to email-!”

~~

They didn’t dance with each other, for multiple reasons, and nobody could make them. Everyone else was encouraged to go right ahead, and really they were enjoying them. Saxion was having a lot of fun with his new friends, Alan and Cooper kept huddled by the edge of the dancefloor the entire night (“So, Alan’s is the next wedding you said?” “Look, I’m working on it.”), and Kevin’s siblings had more than enough partners to keep the floor busy all on their own.

Not that their peaceful observing was meant to last. They may not have been willing to dance together, but that didn’t stop Helen and Manny, at the first party song, practically dragging Kevin over the table onto the floor while Elena and Mike tutted about him being rude. And of course, not to be outdone, Vix and Tiara had pulled Argit out from behind the table as well for some family bonding.

Neither would ever, ever admit to having fun.

~~

“Is there a reason your dad isn’t hanging out with his own generation?” Argit made a curious noise around his drink. The two of them had managed to escape after about forty minutes and now were hidden, about as well as they could be, behind a piece of décor. They’d managed to sneak some more food and drink- some Osmosian fish and cheese dish, some wine, and a fruit and blood drink Argit was developing a taste for- and as far as they were concerned they would be safe here from attention for at least a little while.

“I don’t know,” Argit said as he looked out over the crowd and noted his father standing well away from the other parents, “‘cause he’s weird? And evil?” Kevin hummed, head cocking to the side.

“Then you’d think he’d at least chat with my mom.”

~~

Dessert was, for the guests, a selection of homemade tarts provided by their local Kevin. The happy couple, meanwhile, split the cookie cake Ben had brought earlier (“What does it say?” “Happy 21st.” “Because…?” “It’s my birthday.” “Oh. Happy birthday then.” “Thanks.”) before saying their farewells. Which, of course, meant more talking and hugging as everyone who probably wouldn’t be seeing Kevin again until the next wedding or major political event took their turns letting the young men know how happy they were for them and how much Kevin would be missed.

A hotel room had been purchased for them a fifteen-minute drive away, to a business nobody else at the event was using, and the taxi ride there was a relief. Quiet, peaceful, time enough to recover feeling in their extremities and for the tear stains on their clothes to dry before they were dragging themselves into the lobby and up the stairs to their suite, the adrenaline of the day quickly wearing away.

As soon as the door was locked they both collapsed, fully clothed, onto the bed and were out like lights.

[rachelcarsoncenter]

(Adventures in Stavanger, Part 1)

In this mini series you can read about the experiences of Johanna Felber and Malin Klinski, candidates of the RCC’s Environmental Studies Certificate program, during an exchange program with the University of Stavanger in Norway. If you want to find out more about life in the land of the midnight sun, trolls, and vikings, you are in the right place... 

By Johanna Felber and Malin Klinski

Stavanger is a place of contradictions. The fourth largest city of Norway is situated on the southwestern coastline. Depending on who you ask, you will hear quite different stories about the place. Some might talk about Stavanger as being Norway’s (or even Europe’s) petroleum capital. The big-oil resources have not only helped the city of Stavanger to accumulate wealth – they are also a symbol of the nation’s global economic importance. As recently as January 2020, the Norwegian government officially opened a new giant oil field, 140 kilometers off the shore of Stavanger. It is estimated to generate a maximum turnover of US $100 billion. Norway itself obtains its energy mostly from renewable sources, especially wind- and hydropower. Stavanger’s oil and gas are mainly export goods.

The other side of Stavanger is more in line with the picturesque face of the city. Countless ships still sail towards the old port; tiny wooden houses (often white, sometimes colorful like in the “color alley”), narrow streets, the fish market, and cobblestones make up the charm of the gamle (old town). Less well known is the impressive variety of street art, which can be discovered when wandering about.

The fjords around Stavanger are passageways to many of the smaller islands situated close to the shore. The best way to experience Stavanger’s natural beauty is going outdoors and exploring the landscapes surrounding the town. Once you stand on a rocky mountain overlooking the region, you realize how tales of trolls found their way into Norwegian folk tales.

Photo by the authors.

Fun Fact: Norwegians have a lot of words to describe weather, that don’t exist in the English language. Oppholdsvær, for example, means cloudy weather without rainfall, meaning great weather to go out into nature!

  On the Road

Our Stavanger adventure started in Munich. We drove up to Stavanger with Hanna’s red camping bus. It is like a little house, with a bed, a cooking stove and, most importantly in Norway, a heater. Hanna even sewed curtains to cover the windows and keep out the cold. Our journey led us to Hamburg, Aarhus, a beach on the very northern rim of Denmark, Hirtshals, and then to a small lake between Kristiansand and Stavanger, before we finally arrived on the university campus.

Malin lives in a student dormitory, just outside the main building of the University, and she was able to move in as soon as we arrived on campus. Hanna resides in a shared flat closer to the city center, from where she can cycle up the hill to the university. On a sunny day you can see quite far, right out to sea. Getting into town from the university by bike takes 30 minutes, up and down steep roads.

Beach in north Denmark

First morning in Norway, at a lake

  The University

Our courses at the University of Stavanger (UiS) are all connected to the local Master’s in Energy, Environment and Society – an interdisciplinary program. The focus is mainly on environmental and energy politics from a global, comparative perspective. The entire interior design of the university is cozy and thought through. From light installations to plant pots, cushions, colourful wallpapers, fluffy carpets and artistic paintings – Norwegians know how to make spending a lot of time indoors bearable. This is quite important when you can’t leave the house for a short stroll because the wind is howling relentlessly and the rain splashing mercilessly against the windowsills. The Norwegian weather forecast’s website is called yr.no, which means something like “drizzling rain.”

The university library is more of an open, creative space. You can find rocking chairs, beanbags and hammock-pergolas. You are allowed to play games, speak loudly and bring your own food. When we first visited the library and a housemate of Malin’s waved and shouted, “What’s up?” through the hall, we winced in unison. Even though it felt a little weird in the beginning, we quickly adapted to the local habits – and brought some cinnamon buns and tea into the library while discussing the first paper we had to submit.

One of the reasons we have decided to come to Stavanger is the Greenhouse at UiS. Dolly and Finn Arne Jørgensen, two researchers in the field of environmental history, initiated this platform for sharing research, developing ideas and projects, and discussing environmental topics. A couple of professors and PhD candidates join them in the weekly Greenhouse Lunch, where current themes and activities are shared, planned, and promoted. We have also been there once and were heartily welcomed to the group. Unfortunately, the lunch is coinciding with one of our seminars, but we will join them again soon for other events, in a second installation in this miniseries, will keep you updated about what the environmentalists here are thinking and working on.

No, these pictures don’t show a fancy hipster café – it is the university library

  Exploring Nature

Until now, we have tried to get outside as much as possible. Stavanger’s surroundings offer countless possibilities for experiencing nature. We both became members of the UiS friluftsliv group (outdoor sport group), which organizes all kinds of outdoor activities. Most of the hikes in the area are easily accessible by public transport, with some entailing underwater tunnel rides and ferry cruises. It is definitely worth visiting the Vigdel beach, close to Sola. We wandered on wooden planks through pliant dunes, climbed over rugged, craggy cliffs, and saw a rainbow appearing from the depths of the stormy sea. Moreover, it is an excellent spot to have a picnic and eat homemade cinnamon rolls with loads of confectioner’s sugar. Another nice tour is taking the public bus to the island of Rennesøy and wandering along the steep cliff towards the mountain range. It really is an adventure path and no matter where you go, it is impossible not to take dozens of breaks to admire the view. With the friluftsliv group we went on two different hiking trips that both ended with a bonfire. We grilled marshmallows and roasted home-made bread dough on sticks over the flames.

  On another weekend trip we joined some members of the friluftsliv group on a ski tour with the Norwegian mountain club DNT in the region of Sirdal, about two hours drive from Stavanger. We didn’t really know what we signed up for, as the tour was a mixture of slalom, cross country skiing, and snowshoe hiking. The scenery was beautiful, it was an experience we wouldn’t have wanted to miss, but we still found ourselves with incredible muscle aches on Monday morning.

One of the most popular leisure activities in Norway is spending time in cabins. We slept in two different cabins on our ski trip, and learned that there are quite some things to be aware of when signing up for such overnight stays. After eight hours of tour-skiing through the snowy mountains on just the first day, we finally arrived at our cabin.

We felt like doing nothing more than falling into one of the bunk beds and closing our eyes. But two Norwegians girls still had enough motivation to take off all their skiing equipment, run down the hill, and jump into the icy water of the river running by. Malin decided to join in the experience. The water was so incredibly cold that you couldn’t even feel it anymore. It is a miracle how the body still manages to function in these temperatures.

Compared to this experience, lugging the water buckets from that same river back up to the fireplace was a rather relaxing task. After so much physical activity and fresh air we were really hungry, and nothing on earth could taste better than pasta with tomato sauce then. With a heavy woolen blanket thrown around our shoulders and the dim light of the candles (which were lighted to save electricity) the evening was made even more cozy. We played cards and told stories about our favorite hiking trips. One thing we learned from that skiing trip in Sirdal was that the further you are away from a proper road, internet connection, and running water, the more hyggelig it gets!

The word hyggelig can mean a lot of different things. It translates to pleasant, good, nice, secure, intimate, snug, and comfortable. It describes a feeling or impression – if you find yourself sitting content, tired but warm, at a fireplace after a long day, you will know what it really is about.

  The way to the heart is through the stomach

Food is very expensive in Norway. This is a fact. A bowl of simple green salad costs 7 euros in the university cafeteria. The only way around this is making your own food, and being creative. The 20 people that share the kitchen in Malin’s student dormitory come from 15 different countries. Since arriving, we have cooked many different dishes from various regions of the world in this kitchen. We made huge amounts of hummus and falafel and spent hours rolling sushi. One day we prepared pizza dough and tiramisu for the entire house, with instructions from Jacopo, an Italian student from Milan. The more people share the food you cook, the more affordable it becomes.

We even joined in the International Food Festival of the university. Teams received 40 euros to buy groceries and cook traditional food from their country. The winning team receives vouchers for the cafeteria. Unfortunately, we didn’t win – competing with countries like India, Vietnam, and Mexico, we were hard challenged from the outset! In the end, the winner was South Korea.  We made Semmelknödel and Scheiterhaufen –  spinach and parsley dumpling with creamy mushroom sauce, and a sweet dessert made from old bread, milk, cinnamon, apples, berries and loads of sugar. We had a lot of fun and more people than we expected complimented our food.

Team Germany – not expecting to win, but still in a good mood. Hanna, David, Malin, and Kevin are posing for the team photo. David and Kevin study sport science.

Despite the often non-existent sunshine, we really enjoyed our first month in Stavanger. A lot of things are still on our bucket list for the next months, so we will surely not get bored. One of the most important things is learning Norwegian, which will hopefully give us the chance to dive deeper into the culture. We will share our experiences in snakke norsk med nordmanner and everything else that left us sometimes clueless, sometimes smiling, during our exchange in Stavanger in our next blog post.

Opplevelser I Stavanger (Adventures in Stavanger, Part 1) In this mini series you can read about the experiences of…

[sempiternalsandpitturtle]

What is an integrated marketing agency?

An integrated marketing agency is an extension of your business. Taking a holistic approach to brand strategy and marketing communications, integrated agencies have the resources and skills to effectively promote your company across all channels.

Hiring an assortment of contractors, freelancers and single-specialty agencies is like going to different restaurants for each dish in a five-course meal. You’ll still feel full, but it’s inefficient and the entrée may not pair well with the dessert.

The advantages of working with an integrated marketing agency

An integrated marketing agency brings many advantages over working with an assortment of contracted workers and vendors. These advantages can be referred to as integrated communications: a cohesive, holistic approach to branding and marketing.

Integrated communications strategies bring much-needed consistency of tone, messaging, style and quality to your brand.

Let’s say your business hires a freelancer to write blog copy, contracts a graphic designer from a staffing agency, partners with a production company to produce video content and leverages another agency to manage social media channels. Who makes all of these distinct pieces come together into a consistent brand story?

If you’re reading this, it’s probably you.

You will not only be responsible for managing these disparate projects, but also for wrangling them into a cohesive package.

Here’s what I mean:

You’ll have to ensure that the logos created by the designer are sent to the production company; you’ll have to edit the writer’s content and pass it along to the social media agency; essentially, you’ll become a middleman between the people you hired. And when one piece of collateral does not align with the others, it will be on you to communicate the fix.

An integrated marketing agency lets you hold on to the reins while a team of experts does the work for you.

The agency provides the writers, designers, videographers, social media experts and a host of other marketing resources such as enterprise-grade tools. As a client, you can work with a dedicated team that will learn your brand inside and out, thus serving as an extension of your internal marketing efforts.

Why communication cannot be overrated

When you work with an agency that takes a holistic approach to marketing, you benefit immensely from team communication.

Rather than existing in silos, your marketing team members will work side-by-side, sharing resources, knowledge and expertise. Meanwhile, you’ll have a single point of contact, keeping communications clear and consistent. When you give direction, you only need to give it once.

How integrated marketing improves audience engagement

When you see a familiar face in a crowd of strangers, you can’t help but smile. Familiarity is comforting and less mentally taxing than novelty. We like things we’ve encountered in the past because we understand them.

In the marketing world, change can be disconcerting. If your favorite brand of yogurt redesigns its packaging, it not only takes you a few seconds longer to locate it on the supermarket shelf, but also stops you from thinking about your future enjoyment of the product. “Mmm…” becomes “Hmm?”

This challenge arises on a smaller scale every time your content does not align with other brand elements.

When a customer visits your Facebook page, do they see the same brand values that are reflected in your TV advertisements? Is it the same messaging, but in a different visual style? Any discrepancies could distract from the overall message.

Consumers really do notice when a brand’s messaging is inconsistent.

The majority of consumers believe integrated marketing builds brands, and 65 percent look favorably on integrated campaigns. However, consumers expect these campaigns to integrate seamlessly, and a significant number of them believe marketers could be doing better. In fact, 42 percent of surveyed consumers said they’re still having divergent experiences across channels.

Without a dedicated marketing partner, brands will struggle to develop cohesive messaging. Managing far-flung freelancers and contractors requires significant time and effort that could be spent on more important tasks.

Why every brand can benefit from integrated marketing

Integrated communications isn’t just for brands that market across many channels. In fact, an agency can supplement your company’s existing efforts, giving you more resources to work with.

For example, if your organisation develops research-heavy whitepapers, an agency could repurpose that content into a more digestible format, such as blog posts or infographics.

An integrated agency will do more than generate assets for you – it will delve into your brand, find out what resonates with your target audience and create content that aligns perfectly with your other efforts.

Whatever your brand’s energy, an integrated agency will match it.

Marketing is never easy, but having a knowledgeable partner ensures that the effort is well-spent. Integrated communications demonstrate to consumers your brand’s willingness to invest in quality content that provides value consistently.

from http://bit.ly/2qSCaO3

[healthinsurcover]

7 Ways To Make Fruits A Good Halloween Treat

Halloween treats are enjoyable, but the majority are unhealthy. While you want your kids to have fun over the once-a-year celebration, you also want to make sure they do not end up with too much candy. Fruit is an excellent alternative.

The problem is most kids just don’t want to eat fruit. It is boring. They know it is healthy and it just doesn’t look at appetizing as the chocolates, popcorn, and candy that’s on offer at other houses. You need to find a way to make fruit interesting. Make your children forget all about the nutrition in fruit and see and enjoyment in it.

You can easily make your fruit look more interesting. Here are seven ways to make it an excellent Halloween treat for the whole family.

Start with the Frozen Boo-Nana Pops

Boo-nanas are a popular addition to any healthy Halloween party. They are fun, nutritious, and tasty for all. However, you can go one step further by making frozen pops with your boo-nanas. They are extremely easy to create, and you can make enough for the whole party without spending a fortune.

These can also become portable. You will just need some tin foil, cling film, or other types of wrap. The bananas will start to melt and become mushy when the kids are on their way to trick or treating.

Get the kids involved in making their tasty treat. They will want all their friends over for a Halloween party. There is chocolate involved, but very little. It is the chocolate that makes kids believe they are eating something unhealthy and Halloween-worthy.

The recipe below will make four boo-nana pops. You can increase the number of ingredients you have to create the number of pops you will need.

Ingredients:

1 medium banana

1 cup of white chocolate

8 chocolate chips

4 popsicle sticks

Method:

Chop your bananas in half and then slice in half lengthways

Place the popsicle sticks into each banana quarter and then place on a cookie sheet with wax paper; freeze the bananas

Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate in a mug until it is soft

Dip each of the frozen bananas into the melted chocolate, scraping off the excess

Put the bananas back on the cookie sheet and add two chocolate chips to each banana stick for the eyes

Put back in the freezer until they are hard

These are best eaten frozen. However, you can send them out to the kids. The chocolate will melt, so let parents know to put the boo-nanas back in the freezer before eaten or encourage them to eat on the way around!

Make Your Spooky Spider

Sometimes you need to create a more substantial dessert or snack out of smaller items. Grapes just don’t look as fun until you make them into something spooky and enjoyable. For Halloween, you want to use grapes to make a bid spider. The kids can grab a grape or two when they want to eat them.

This will be funafterschool project for the kids before they go out trick or treating. You can also create it in the middle of the treats table if they are having a home party with their friends.

Ingredients:

1 plum

A few handful of grapes

16 pretzel sticks

Dab of peanut butter/cream cheese

Two raisins

Method:

Grab the plum and add eight holes, four on each side

Place grapes over eight pretzel sticks, leaving enough space on one side to put into the plum

Add the other eight pretzel sticks to the last grape on each of the initial sticks

Fill the second set of eight pretzel sticks with the other grapes

Place the legs into the plum

Add a small dab of peanut butter or cream cheese at the front of the plum and add the raisins on top; creating the eyes of the spider

If you prefer, you can also do this with black olives. Make sure the olives are pitted. If you do not want to use pretzel sticks, you can opt for toothpicks to keep everything in place.

If the plum is too small for the eight legs, you can use two plums instead. It is not quite a spider with two parts of the body, but it is better than not enough legs, right? Join the plums together with extra pretzel sticks. If you add fewer legs, come up with a creative reason for the lack of eight legs!

Make a Few Apple Monsters

  Monster mouths are fun and easy to make, but you can go a little step further. Opt for full apple monsters instead. This recipe will use nuts for the teeth. If your kids are allergic, you will want to add seeds instead.

If you are not into the whole monster, you can create a monster vampire instead. There’s an excellent alternative under this first recipe.

Ingredients:

1 red apple of choice

Chopped nuts of choice, preferably almonds or cashews

Toothpicks

Marshmallows

Green icing

Method:

Start by chopping quarters out of your apple

In each quarter, chop a small section out of the skin, creating a mouth-like quarter of apple

Chop the nuts lengthways and then stick them into the apple, creating uneven teeth for the monsters

Stick two toothpicks on the top of the mouth and add a marshmallow to each toothpick

Finish with a dollop of the green icing on the marshmallows to create the eyes

The apple will brown if you just leave it out. Avoid this by spritzing it with some lemon juice or placing it in salt water.

Adapting for Vampire Mouths:

You can use the apples to make your vampire mouths if you want. Instead of adding all the nuts, you can use two seeds to place in the top section of the mouth, looking like the vampire teeth. Alternatively, you can use bits of straws, but you will need to remind everyone to take the teeth out before eating the mouths!

Make a Candy Corn Fruit Cocktail

Sometimes you can trick kids into eating something nutritious without even hiding the fruit! It is all about creating something that looks appealing to them. A fruit cocktail looks more fun than eating the pieces of fruit on their own.

Make your fruit cocktail with a Halloween twist. This recipe does use cream and some candy, but not enough to cause a major health problem. After all, one piece of candy corn is going to be a drop in the ocean with all the fruity goodness.

You can choose whatever types of fruit you want, but I recommend using the same colors as the candy corn. It is possible to make your fruit cocktail look like a candy corn.

Ingredients:

Pineapple chunks

Orange segments

Whipped cream

1 candy corn per cocktail for topping

Method:

Use a clear glass and add a layer of pineapple

Top with a layer of oranges

Add a layer of whipped cream on top and serve with the candy corn piece on the top

Place the cocktails in the fridge until you are ready to serve them. They make excellent snacks for the kids during the day, but they can also make excellent desserts for a Halloween dinner party. The kids will love getting involved in creating these dishes.

Make Your Grape Caterpillars

  Fruit kebabs can be made to create all types of funky designs and monsters. For Halloween, you can create creepy crawly caterpillars with ease. It is all done with some grapes. You will need some kebab skewers or toothpicks, depending on the size of caterpillars you want.

These can be used for trick or treating. Wrap them in some cling film, so everyone gets to see the funky caterpillars in his or hertrick or treat bags. Parents will love that you have added something healthy with a twist.

Ingredients:

Green grapes

Cream cheese

Chocolate chips

Method:

Place as many grapes as you can on your kebab sticks, leaving a little space to grab the stick with your hands at the bottom

Add two small dollops of cottage cheese on the front grape

Top the cream cheese with a chocolate chip each

If you do not want to use cream cheese, you can use vanilla icing instead. Melted white chocolate will also work, but the cheese is just a little easier.

Get your kids involved in making these. Let them place the grapes onto the skewers. If they are too young to do this without catching the tip, help them with it. When kids get involved, they are more likely to enjoy their treats afterward.

Arrange Your Monster Fruit Bowl

You do not have to get crafty with small bits of fruit. Sometimes it is all about the way your layout the fruit for kids to snack. You can create a delicious fruit bowl with a Halloween twist with ease. Look out for different types of fruits that you can throw together to create a bowl.

Start with this simple bowl. You can then find new and exciting ways to put your fruit bowl together. The best thing about this trick is you can convert the idea for all different seasons. You will never run out of ways to put the fruit together.

Ingredients:

Apples

Large oranges

Black grapes

Method:

Chop up your apples and oranges, leaving the skin on both

Layer the fruit, so the orange segments create the shape of a face, leaving a space for the mouth, eyes, and nose

Add most of the apple slices within the space for the mouth, creating it as gory as you would like

Add the grapes in the holes for the eyes and nose

Finish with a few apple slices to create the hair

Put the bowl of fruit out for your kids to snack on throughout the day. You will be surprised at how little is left by the end. Don’t worry if the treat tempts you. It is there for everyone to enjoy.

Create a Watermelon Monster

This is one of the biggest projects and can take time to chop. You may find your kids cannot help at first, but they will enjoy putting it together once you finished the preparation. The main part of the dish is a watermelon that you are going to turn into a monster. It is hilarious for kids to look at and will make the perfect centerpiece for a Halloween party.

Ingredients:

1 watermelon

Mixture of fruits of your choice

Two slices of cucumbers

Two black olives or grapes

Method:

Start by chopping the bottom part of your watermelon slightly, so that it can stand up straight without rolling

Now carve the bottom half of the front of your watermelon into a mouth shape; get creative as you would with a pumpkin without scooping the watermelon out as you will want the chunks for later

Chop up all your fruit into chunks

Place the watermelon at the back of the serving plate

Add the fruit chunks at the front, as if they are spewing out of the watermelon monster’s mouth

Finish by adding the slices of cucumber above the mouth of eyes with the olives as the pupils; secure with toothpicks or pretzel sticks

You can opt for chocolate drops for the eyes if you want. You will need some icing to keep the chocolates in place.

Being Healthy does not Need to Be Boring

One of the best things about fruit is the versatility of it. There’s no need just to give a piece of fruit and be considered a bore. You can make the fruit look fun. After all, it tastes so much better when it looks appealing.

The treats above don’t take too long. The trickiest will be the watermelon monster head, but that is more because of the carving. Kids will love getting involved helping to put together all the fruity creations and will be mighty proud when they have friends over. On top of that, the parents will adore you for healthy Halloween snacks!

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[iwantingsbuzz-blog]

You should buy some Dollar shop glass when you see this gorgeous present! – Do-it-yourself All in One

These days I will show you how exactly to develop 2 gorgeous candy meals. These candy dishes may be ideal for a dessert table at a wedding, anniversary party, bridal bath, baby shower or any special event. They could also be great gift ideas when it comes to breaks or birthdays. Also, you should use all of them as decor in your home.

Take a look at the video clip above to understand just how to create these beautiful candy jars or you might always just browse the step by step guide below.

You will require 2 cup jars with covers and 2 glass candlestick holders. Always wash the containers, the covers, in addition to candle holders with heated water and detergent before painting. This may help the paint adhere better.

Next, cover the bottom of the lids with painters tape and that means you don’t get any paint about this location.

After that, on a well-ventilated area squirt paint the covers additionally the candle holders because of the gold spray paint. For drying out time follow instructions in the can of spray paint.

Next, slice the diamond place along with the purple bling ribbons into solitary pieces. you will require quite a few of those.

To enhance the more expensive cover, utilize a hot glue weapon to glue 3 rows for the silver bling ribbon follow by a single strip regarding the purple bling ribbon. Continue this design until you cover the complete top.

Here's what the cover seems like. I added 3 even more rows of purple bling ribbon to your the surface of the cover.

Now lets enhance the smaller lid. With this, make use of the hot glue firearm to glue 3 rows of this gold bling ribbon. Glue 2 rows regarding the ribbon on top of lid and something around the exterior edge of the cover. Then utilize the E6000 glue or any other strong glue to glue the pin to your the surface of the cover.

Today let’s decorate the candlestick holders. For this one, cut a 3 line strip regarding the gold bling ribbon, and employ the hot glue gun to glue it into the top portion of the candle holder. Then glue a purple jewel sticker right on the top of bling ribbon.

To enhance the next candlestick owner, cut 8 purple plants through the rose mesh and using the hot glue gun glue 4 towards the top part of the candlestick holder. Then glue the other 4 towards the bottom of candlestick holder. This candle holder has actually 8 sides. I glue one rose then skip a side then glue another flower and miss another side until such time you glue all blossoms. Then glue one strip of this purple bling ribbon on bottom edge of the candle holder and a differnt one just above the purple blossoms. If this appears confusing please see video for lots more instructions.

Then using the E6000 glue (or any other strong glue) glue the candle holders into the containers. In addition glued 4 purple gems stickers into bottom of this candle holder when it comes to smaller candy jar.

Last action is to add your favor candy! Here you've got two gorgeous candy dishes that can be used for a dessert table at a meeting or even for decor in your home. Love!

Should you want to discover ways to create stunning design for unique occasions or home decor, then examine my youtube station https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcaJQjbV9KvCUoYxvS9dLiQ

Thank you plenty for seeing and reading!

Materials we employed for this project:

2 glass jars with lids   (Michaels art shop, in addition to buck tree)

Purple rose mesh   (Amazon)

Gold diamond wrap   (Amazon)

Purple bling ribbon   (Michaels art store)

Silver squirt paint   (Michaels art store)

Purple jewel stickers   (Michaels art store)

Rhinestones slider or pin   (Michaels art store)

Glass candlestick holders   (dollar tree store)

E6000 glue   (Michaels craft shop)

Hot glue firearm and glue sticks   (Michaels art shop)

Scissors   (Michaels craft store)

[northshorehealthandfitness]

September Goal Check-In + 3 for October 2017

Hmmm… late goal check-ins seem to be becoming a trend around here. Oops! Nevertheless, September was packed with memorable adventures, meeting new friends and lots of self discovery, so let’s get straight into it. Here’s how I did on my most recent monthly goals.

Do a thorough decluttering of my apartment – A+

Seasonal clean-ups are the norm for me, but this one was even more refreshing than usual. I’d originally allocated 4 slots of time throughout the month to declutter the main areas of my apartment that needed it most: 1 for my closet, 1 for my laundry/storage room, and 2 for my kitchen. Then I decided that it would be more ideal if I didn’t have to come home from my Hawaii trip with any cleaning to do. The weekend before leaving, I went into full-on Marie Kondo mode.

Throughout this intense cleaning day, I had a whole bunch of realizations. Leading up to it, I was feeling stressed out and frazzled, but for no apparent reason that I could pinpoint. There had been a lot of stuff happening at work involving change and learning, but none of them really felt like the cause. My head just always seemed busy with thoughts flying around at a million miles an hour, and all that mental work was making me feel drained.

As I got into it, I realized 2 things:

That so much of the stress was due to my physical space being cluttered. I can be very particular about the cleanliness of my home and most days, can’t stand spaces that feel disorganized. But other things in my schedule had taken priority, which was clearly having an impact.

That there’s a fine line between being a good declutter-er and a good organizer. Good organizers can find clever ways to store a lot of stuff in a little space, without actually getting rid of anything.

I knew I had a ton of stuff I didn’t need, so when the organize-all-the-things mood struck, I was ruthless. 6 bags of donations and 6 bags of garbage later, my space was bright, light and sparkly again, and it felt SO good. Now the challenge is keeping it that way!

Make the most of every moment in Hawaii – A+

This was by far one of the biggest highlights of my year. The full recap from my trip is here, and I would go back again in a heartbeat. It had been way too long since I’d disconnected from my daily responsibilities, left my phone on airplane mode and just did whatever I felt like doing in the moment. There was a loose agenda based around the excursions I’d booked, but outside of that, some of my favourite moments were sitting on the lanai of my hotel room, staring out at the ocean like some crazy person from another planet that had never seen it before.

Taking the time to unwind reminded me that I really need to make it more of a priority in smaller doses when I’m at home, so I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can do this over the coming months.

Get a new recipe search up and running – A

Awww yes, she’s live!! If you’ve been browsing the blog over the past week or two, you’ve probably already had a chance to try this. If not, you can check out the new recipe search here.

As I promised before, it’s much faster than the old version and far easier to apply filters to find what you want. I still need to re-tag and categorize a bunch of older posts in order to get those recipes to appear in results, and the fall/winter ones will be my priority since I know that’s what you guys are looking for. It’s a steady work in progress but already a million times better than before! If you have any feedback on the search, feel free to send it my way.

Moving along to this month, which we’re already a week into….

3 goals for October 2017

Find a better groove with my meal delivery side gig

I’ve talked lots recently about how I’ve been cooking for my co-workers, and it’s been such a fun experience so far. Not only am I able to put more of my ideas for recipes into execution, but I’ve also been experimenting with some healthy sweeter treats because… #balance. (You’ll find those posted on Sundays to Instagram, and here on the blog. Just pop over to the new recipe search and browse through the desserts!)

While all of this is totally my jam and helping me learn to be a better recipe developer/chef in the process, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a lot of work. This is very much self-imposed because I want to make sure the dishes taste amazing, look great and are super fresh. The challenge is achieving a balance between that and efficiency, because there are so many other things I want to make time for (like my next goal, which I’ll get to in a minute.)

Every week I’m discovering more ways that I can be more efficient with this, and I know that ease and efficiency are things all of you value when you cook too. When I’m making recipes for the blog I often end up using a ton of ingredients, but this project has been helping me pare down, simplifying while still maintaining great taste and nutrition. I’ve got some ideas brewing on how I can extend all this to benefit you guys too, so watch this space.

To summarize this one, the goal is to streamline my workflow for weekly menu planning (for anywhere between 7 and 12 people), prep, and day-of tasks. That should free up more time for me to…

Spend more time with friends

This is another one of those goals that pops up repeatedly. When I look back at my goals for 2017, it’s also one of the things I prioritized and strongly value, yet always face challenges in actually doing. It annoys me to think that I have such a hard time putting into practice something I feel so passionately about, yet other priorities always seem to creep in and feel more urgent. No more, I say!

Now that summer is over (yep, makes me sad too!), weekends are a little less busy with travel plans etc and I’m really going to focus on this one this month. I’m currently feeling especially inspired since it’s Thanksgiving weekend, and one thing I’m MOST thankful for is all of the amazing people who I’m constantly learning from, and who challenge me to be a better person on a daily basis. That includes you guys too!

Finish 3 audiobooks

I cancelled my Netflix subscription last month after having realized that I was making almost zero use of it. I’m far more of a podcasts kinda gal, and even when I’m ‘watching’ movies and shows at home, I’m multitasking in some way. One of my favourite things to do on the weekend is catching up on all the podcasts I subscribe to while doing my meal prep or cleaning. I download these via iTunes, and i’s free education that I get a ton of value out of.

Similar to the TV vs podcasts thing, I’m far more likely to listen to an audiobook than read a physical book. Last month I was lucky enough to give Audible.ca a try before it officially launched (yes, there’s now an Audible.ca, not just .com!) and I got completely hooked. I listened to audiobooks on the plane to and from Hawaii, in the airport, and when I was getting ready for work in the morning. To keep that education going, my October goal is to ‘read’ 3 more. Knowing my tastes they’ll probably be in the self development and business categories. If you’ve read anything lately that you loved, feel free to leave your recos in the comments below. I’d love to check them out!

So tell me… what are you working on this month? Was there anything in particular that stuck out in September as notable for you, like reaching a mini milestone on the way to a goal, or even conquering a big goal?

from North Shore Outlet - Health and Fitness http://ift.tt/2kAvYpZ via IFTTT

[thecaptainsdesk]

The Philippines is often overlooked by foreign travellers in favour of other Asian destinations, but there’s no better time to get to know this tropical archipelago.

With 7461* islands (at low tide!) and a feast of screensaver-perfect backdrops – from dreamy tropical beaches and smouldering volcanoes to mesmerising rice terraces and crumbling Spanish relics – the Philippines is one of south-east Asia’s most exotic getaways.

(*Yes, according to the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), following a report from the Philippine Islands Measurement Project, the number of islands recognized as Philippine property is actually larger than the 7,107 islands people were taught in school for decades. Some had just been missed due to a lack of technology, and others are relatively new islands that are the result of changing landforms.)

Yet to many travellers, this lush archipelago – anchored between the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean – remains an under-appreciated mystery; usually ignored in favour of its near-neighbours Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia (Bali), despite the efforts of Filipino tourism chiefs, whose slogan, “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”, and the new ad with world-famous travel blogger, Jack Ellis, “When you’re with Filipinos, you’re with family” graces billboards everywhere.

Palawan

So why take a punt on the Philippines? Aside from the fact that low-cost Filipino carrier Cebu Airlines has launched flights between the Philippines and other international destinations, taking on the national carrier Philippine Airlines, and the fact that you’re dealing with bargain, Bali-esque prices, what is there that appeals here?

How about gorgeous landscapes, a spellbinding cast of wildlife (both on land and under water), exuberant festivals, romantic hideaways and thrilling adventures, sumptuous seafood and rum-fuelled parties and the chance to mingle with some of the cheeriest people on earth.

And you’ll have no worries communicating with them. Alongside Tagalog (Filipino), English is the Philippines’ unofficial language (a legacy of the country’s strong American influence).

Compiling a maiden Filipino travel itinerary can be tricky (did I mention there were 7461 islands?).

So here are some ideas to get you started.

MANIC MANILA

Most travellers fly into Metro Manila, which, with its Bangkok-style traffic jams and its glaring chasms between the ostentatiously rich and the heart-wrenchingly poor, provides an in-your-face introduction to the Philippines. However, the Filipino capital is an absorbing and enthralling place to explore.

To familiarise yourself, join a walking tour with Carlos Celdran, an acclaimed guide who uses street theatre to trace Manila’s topsy-turvy history. His signature tour covers Intramuros – the photogenic, and fairly placid, old walled quarter founded by the Spanish colonialists in the early 16th century. (celdrantours.blogspot.com)

It was partially rebuilt after being flattened during World War II when the US and Japan fought for control of the city, then known as the pearl of the Orient. Another Celdran tour (Livin’ La Vida Imelda) explores the controversial life of Imelda Marcos, the shoe-loving wife of former President, Ferdinand Marcos. She was said to have owned 3000 pairs of shoes when she was the first lady.

Manila skyline at dusk

You can shop for nifty footwear, and other goodies, in the sleek airconditioned malls beloved by Manileños across the social spectrum (the fanciest are in Makati, a modern American-tinged enclave strewn with cosmopolitan hotels and restaurants). Don’t miss the sunset over Manila Bay; it’s the city’s traffic pollution that contributes to the startling orangey-red spectacle.

After dark, kick back with drinks on a trendy rooftop bar such as Skye (skye.ph) or try your luck at Manila’s new $1.3 billion Solaire casino (solaireresort.com). You could also partake in the national obsession: singing. Karaoke bars are everywhere; some are family-friendly, others not so, dripping in neon and sleaze, rife with sex tourists and ladies, and lady-boys, of the night.

THE BIG ISLAND – LUZON

Classic Filipino Jeepney

Manila sprawls at the centre of the Philippines’ largest island.

A touch smaller than Cuba, Luzon could easily eat up the visa-free allowance that many passport holders are given upon entering the country.

After the smog, heat and bustle of Manila, it’s bliss to ascend into the cooler Cordillera, a pine-forested chain of mountains sheltering laid-back towns like Sagada, a faintly mystical, hippy hideaway, and Baguio, a hill station established by the American military, who forced Spain out of the Philippines in 1898.

Baguio Botanical Gardens

The Cordillera hides waterfalls, sacred caves with entombed mummies and museums that depict the customs of ancient headhunters.

But the main pull is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed rice terraces skirting the small towns of Banaue and Batad.

Banaue Rice Terraces

Dating back to the days before Christ, these magnificent amphitheatres — hewn with hand, mud and stone by the Ifugao people (one of several tribes still living in the region) — are edged by invigorating hiking trails. Travellers can do bamboo and nipa hut home-stays in Batad, where the worst of the noise pollution comes from crowing roosters and playful children.

A little sister gets a lift

Further north, the Philippines’ best-preserved Spanish town, Vigan, has cobblestone streets, Mediterranean mansions, sturdy Catholic churches that were built to withstand earthquakes; one form of disastrous natural phenomena that the Philippines is vulnerable to and vibrant festivals like January’s Vigan Town Fiesta – it’s a blaze of colour, music and processions.

Horse-drawn carriage in Vigan

You can tour Vigan in a calesa, a two-wheeled horse carriage that is just one of the country’s eye-catching (and often hair-raising) modes of transport. Most prevalent is the jeepney. A Philippines classic, the ex-US Army jeeps-cum-minibuses daubed in technicolour graffiti spawning messages of love, politics and religion. Similar designs cover tricycles, the Filipino rickshaws that are basically motorbikes with bolted-on sidecars.

Swimming with the Butanding

In South Luzon, you can swim with giant butanding (whale sharks) off the coast of Donsol, and see smoking Mount Mayon (a perfect cone volcano blooming from rice fields). Volcanoes loom either side of Manila. Day-trippers scale Mount Pinatubo, which last erupted in 1991, and Taal, which emerges, rather magically, out of a lake.

Left: Taal, Right: Mt. Pinatubo(top) Mt. Mayon(bottom)

BORACAY BLISS

Choosing the Philippines’ most beautiful beach is nigh-on impossible; there are so many. The most hyped is Boracay Island’s White Beach, a luscious, four-kilometre lick of powdery sand, edged by giant, lurching coconut palms and stroked by gentle azure waters crawling with paraws (traditional sailing boats).

Boracay's white sand beaches

Though Boracay is paradise to many Filipinos (and Americans, South Koreans, Taiwanese and Chinese, who comprise the bulk of the international tourists), some complain that it’s become too developed.

Compared to Thailand’s Patong and Bali’s Kuta, however, Boracay is still pretty laidback. And as you enjoy a seafood platter — grilled squid, octopus, shrimps and snapper – with a chilled San Miguel beer, while watching the sun melt into the sea, sending the sky into a frenzy of pinks and oranges, White Beach doesn’t seem such a bad place to linger.

SEE CEBU

Less frenetic than Manila, Cebu is the Philippines’ second major gateway. Its international airport is on Mactan Island, where Iberian explorer Ferdinand Magellan met his end at the hands of tribal leader Lapu-Lapu in 1521.

Magellan Shrine (back), Lapu-Lapu Shrine (front)

A 20-minute taxi ride away, Cebu City boasts the country’s oldest street and church, a ruined Spanish fort, and renowned eateries, like Zubuchon, where globetrotting celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain feasted on lechon (spit-roasted suckling pig). His verdict? “Best pig ever!”

Pinoy lechon, roasting over hot coals

While not as famous as Thai or Vietnamese food, Filipino cuisine is extremely varied and flavoursome.

Touted as the national dish, adobo is a vinegary, garlicky dish that comes in beef, pork and chicken variations, with rice. It’s served everywhere, from upscale bistros to boisterous street markets where families and friends munch and socialise around plastic tables and chairs.

Adobong Manok chaka kanin

Balut (half-developed duck embryo) is among the more offbeat culinary options. A favourite Filipino dessert is halo-halo, a revitalising concoction of milky crushed ice, fresh fruit (like mango, banana and papaya) and ice-cream.

Balut (left),  Halo-Halo (right)

I could go on and on about the delights of Filipino cuisine, but I think I’ll leave that for another time…

The hub of the Visayan archipelago, Cebu is the launchpad for ferries and catamarans to myriad tempting islands, best explored on a motorbike or bicycle. Gems include Siquijor which is famed for its witches and shamans and the bucolic Bohol, which is on the road to recovery after suffering back-to-back jolts in late 2013. A devastating 7.2 earthquake was followed three weeks later by Typhoon Haiyan (or Yolanda, as it was known in the Philippines).

Although some of Bohol’s centuries-old churches were reduced to rubble, its iconic, tubby Chocolate Hills are still largely intact.

Chocolate Hills, Bohol

These 100-metre high mounds turn brown in the dry season between March and May (but are a luxuriant green for most of the year).

Another Bohol highlight is the tarsier. You can glimpse these cute, wide-eyed creatures — some of the planet’s tiniest primates — in the trees of Bohol’s Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary.

Bohol Tarsiers

BEST OF THE REST

Like Borneo, Palawan conjures up a sense of the far-flung and unexplored. Its languid provincial capital, Puerto Princesa, is just an hour’s flight from Manila, but oozes Eden-esque qualities.

One of the few pockets of civilisation, El Nido is a traveller-friendly town surrounded by hulking limestone cliffs, pristine beaches and sparkling emerald lagoons. Hop in a bangka (an outrigger vessel) or kayak and imbibe scenery that resembles Phi Phi in Thailand, only with a fraction of the tourists. North of Palawan, the Calamian Islands are believed to have inspired Alex Garland to write The Beach.

Strolling along the beach in El Nido, Palawan

Calamian includes the hallowed wreck-dive spot of Coron, where more than a dozen Japanese ships were sunk during World War II. Coral-rich reefs teeming with tropical fish, turtles, sharks and dugongs, pepper Filipino waters, with world-class dive sites off Panglao Island, south of Bohol, Apo Island, off Negros, and Puerto Galera, Mindoro.

In the Philippines’ deep south, hardcore surfers tackle the “Cloud Nine” break off Siargao Island, while adventure-seekers are drawn to Camiguin, a pear-shaped island with seven volcanoes. Both are near Mindanao, the country’s second largest island.

Currently, Mindanao is out-of-bounds to tourists due to a proclamation of Martial Law by Philippine President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte, initiated to counter the pro-ISIS Maute terrorist group, who recently took a hold in Marawi City. Troops are currently active in the region, although the rest of the country is as safe as ever.

MORE INFORMATION

It’s More Fun In The Philippines

Department of Tourism, Philippines

TEN ESSENTIAL PHILIPPINES EXPERIENCES

Sip Tanduay rum and coke, a San Miguel or a fresh fruit juice while soaking up a Boracay sunset.

Filipinos are rarely more gleeful than during karaoke sessions. Go on, join in.

3. Hike through and marvel at the ancient rice terraces lording over Banaue and Batad.

Rub shoulders with a cocktail of humanity in a jeepney.

Ogle awe-inspiring wildlife, whether it be tarsiers on land or butanding under water.

Indulge your inner mall rat and relax the purse strings in Manila’s glut of shopping centres.

Navigate turquoise Filipino seas in a ferry, kayak or bangka (outrigger boat).

Enjoy a taste of the local street foods, including barbecued isaw, kwek-kwek, and fish balls.

You’ll be offered hundreds of massages on your Filipino holiday. Accept one (at least).

Stumble across your own empty, postcard-perfect tropical beach.

Fish balls, squid balls, kwek-kwek, and kikiam, favoured street foods of Filipinos

Secret’s out: Asia’s most overlooked paradise The Philippines is often overlooked by foreign travellers in favour of other Asian destinations, but there's no better time to get to know this tropical archipelago.