Pen Pals

A while ago, we got this in the mail:

(You can click the picture to go to the link. Same for all the pictures below.)

After careful deliberation, we sent this postcard in response:

Check out that fine craftsmanship:

The following week we received a package in return, containing a laser-engraved wooden placard:

That's a still frame from the video illustrated in ASCII, with the url at the bottom:

So, we escalated by creating and sending this:

It has been a few months now and we've heard nothing back, so I think at this point we are victorious. It's too bad, though, because we had a few other cool ideas we were planning to send... perhaps we will continue this correspondence one-sidedly.

A Productive Break

One of the perks of working for a school-based organization is that you get the same winter break as the schools do. So for the past week I've been able to get quite a lot done, from the kind-of-important (wedding planning, catching up on emails) to the not-at-all-important-but-still-wanted-to-do-it (reading a long book, watching all of Dr. Who*).

Most importantly, I finally got to make the new Steotch sampler! I don't know anyone getting married in the next month or so, so instead I made it as a 1.57th anniversary present for some friends:

It was really fun, although this was the first time I've worked with metallic thread (for the crown and the sword), and it was kind of a pain. I sort of want to make a stack of blank ones now, so as friends get married in the coming years I can just add the names and dates and be all set!

*Just the 6 seasons of the new version, not the 26 seasons of the original. Yet.

Check it out

My sister is famous on a liberal arts college fashion blog, which apparently is a Thing.

Home Sweet Home

While out doing some last-minute shopping today, I spotted this charming shirt on the guy in front of me in line:

If you can't tell, the fabric is a camo print.

It's great to be home in the only red county in Maryland!

Two Cool Things

First, my xkcd cross stitch was featured on Mr. X Stitch yesterday! In the world of needlepoint blogging, that's a Big Deal.

Second, my Unknown Gnome* surveyed all my coworkers for adjectives about me, and created a word cloud that is probably the most accurate description of me of all time:

My favorite parts are "sedentary," "Excel," "Hermione," and the fact that "ice cream" is on there twice.


*Our office's non-denominational version of Secret Santa.

Insert Jack Donaghy Quote Here

Guys, I have a new job! Sort of. It's still within TFA, but it's a promotion and it's on a new team: Admissions. I flew to Chicago for the first part of this week to start training with my new manager, and when I returned this morning my cube looked like this:

The Admissions team is sort of spread out across the country (hence my manager being in Chicago), but there is one other team member who works from the Philly office, and he took it upon himself to welcome me to the team in an awesome way. My three favorite signs are:

The Admissions team refers to itself as the "A-Team."

This one took me a little while to work out.

I'm super excited about my new job, and about going to NYC next weekend to meet some more of my new team members. You know your new job is Serious Business when it involves two pictures of Mr. T in your cube.

Deck the Halls

Well guys, I finally got the condo decorated for the holidays. Now as soon as you walk in the front door, you will see our very own Christmas Tree:

I know. I'm practically Martha Stewart over here.