Merry Christmas 2009!!!

Remember when you were a kid and Christmas was all about the presents? I always remember going back to school after Christmas break and talking to all my friends about what we all got for Christmas. Whadja get? Whadja get? Am I the only one that remembers doing that? Do I remember any present I got when I was a kid other than my first camera in 9th grade? Absolutely not.

Here are some of the various items I was lucky enough to receive this year......
Edward Cullen fleece blanket, thank you New Jack Weenie / White Elephant Extravaganza 2009. Thank God I didn't open the box with the butt plug buried beneath the mound of creepy vintage inspired dolls. Ugh. And yes, Casey, he does resemble Sloth from Goonies in that picture. Actually, not even close. He's beautiful.
My cousin Fran made me the quilt below. She lives in Missouri, and made this quilt for me as a Thank You for the scrapbook I made her Mom and Dad for their wedding anniversary in June. Its kind of a patchwork denim quilt with plaid flannel backing. Totally love it because it is homemade and from the heart, the best kind of gift. And look at my Mom, she's so wee. Have I ever told you that she represents the Lollipop Guild?

Below you will find the bounty of gifts given by Gina and Paula. Good stuff! Can't wait to crack everything open and put them to use! Paula came through with the Dymo Caption Maker that has been on my Christmas list the last two years. And a gift card to World Market and some Bliss products! Love it! I've been super in to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers lately, ever since I watched the 4 & 1/2 hour documentary Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream a few months ago. Tom Petty is a genius. Anyway, Gina got The Live Anthology, which I am totally stoked about. She also got me an awesome book, Seattle's Best Dive Bars, which I think I'm going to turn in to a fun activity for 2010. The activity will be something along the lines of how many of the dive bars can me and my friends hit up in 2010? Who's with me? Thanks for the awesome gifts Paula and Gina!

Carol has made me different Santa Claus inspired crafts every year for the past, probably, 16 years. Carol is the reason I have Christmas decorations other than ornaments for my Christmas tree. This year she made these two cuties, little bouncy snowmen. Thanks Carol for the many years of Santa, I always look forward to seeing what you have created for Christmas!

The past few holidays (birthdays, Christmas), I've asked for various kitchen items from my parents. This year they did not disappoint. I've been working on getting rid of my old, low budge knives, and switching them out for good quality knives. This Christmas my Mom and Dad helped me along in my quest to seem like an adult with these J.A. Henckels guys. A paring knife, and 8 everyday knives. And a Target gift card. Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Usually my favorite gifts of the year come from Chris and Mike. Chris does a bang up job picking out gifts. She'll go rogue every now and again, and it never disappoints. This year was no exception! Check out the sweet handmade flower pin! Love it! And awesome earrings from Fireworks, I love that store.

Earlier this month, Chris, Kim and I went to Urban Craft Uprising, which is, as described on the website, Seattle's largest indie craft show. Held the past two years at the Seattle Center. The past couple years Chris and I have used this craft show as a spring board to our Christmas shopping for eachother. We walk through the show together, taking note of what the other person likes, then split up and take on the show on our own, buying stuff for ourselves and eachother. It works out really well. This year I had my eye on this awesome scarf by Franken Scarf. I love their by-line....."Fire Bad, Scarf Good". I also got an awesome cookbook by Hungry Girl, can't wait to test out some guilt-free recipes!!

Okay, so my favorite gift of all this year is this necklace, made by MarKhed. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but it is Seattle. And you know how I love this city. I can not wait to wear it.

So this year was a great year for gifts. But you know what? More importantly, 2009 was a great year for family, friends, pets, and the things that are really important in life. Possessions don't mean much compared to your family and friends. I thank my lucky stars everyday that I have my family.......

And where would I be without this cranky fluffball? He's my little guy!

And this chubby bastard? He's definitely made life more interesting over the past few months. He's a heartbreaker, he certainly is.

I can't wait to see what 2010 has in store! Besides the Seattle's Best Dive Bar year long bar crawl, I'm not sure what I have planned. Let me think about it and I'll get back to you.

The Gooch!!!

I'll go all Gran Torino on yo' ass!!! So Wednesday morning I was running out of the house to make it to an appointment in the morning and guess what I found on my car? Some shady creep tagged my car!!! 5 times!!! Yeah, awesome. Check it out......
"Gucci" with a thick, black Sharpie marker all over my pristine Subaru. Across the hood, on the side door, on both side mirrors, and on my back window. WTF? Luckily it came off the back window and side mirrors really easily by just wiping them with a towel. The hood and side door? Another story.

I wish I would have immediately gone online and did some research on ways to get Sharpie tags off car paint. But I was totally in the moment and wanting to get this lameness off as fast as possible. I got some soap and warm water, and a soft sponge and started to put a little elbow grease into it, but only a little bit came off. Ugh. Then I thought about this ceramic top oven cleaner I have, and that took the Sharpie ink right off my car.....unfortunately it also took a little of the shine off of my car in those spots too. Bummer. You can't even really tell unless the sun is shining, but it still bums me out. My dad seems to think a nice wax job will bring the shine right back, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that will happen.

The irony of it all, and what actually made me laugh, *really* hard, about the whole ordeal is that Tuesday night I was watching the first episode of a HBO show called Summer Heights High. Hilarious, BTW, check it out. One of the characters is a punk kid, Jonah Takalua. He tags everything, and his tag is "Dicktation"......see below.

God, that is funny. While I was inside my warm little house, laughing my ass off about "dicktation", some punk was outside gucci-ing my car six ways to Sunday. God, it could have been soooo much worse. I'll take Gucci over Dicktation any day.

Check out Jonah in action:

Oh yeah, if this happens to you, apparently the removal method of choice is a dry erase marker or hairspray. I guess the dry erase marker ink binds to the Sharpie ink, and it can easily be wiped off leaving no marks and taking no shine off the paint. Hairspray contains a ton of denatured alcohol, which also can be used to get rid of black ink. Guess what I own now? Yeah, dry erase markers and hairspray. Bring it you punks! Insert picture of me here shaking my dry erase marker fist in the general direction of the neighborhood.

Frank's new washroom......

Check it out! I read about the Clevercat Top-Entry Litterbox in the most recent publication by Mud Bay. Frank loves to get cat litter EVERYWHERE near his box, so I thought I'd give this one a shot. Plus, Mr. Milo likes to nab Frank turds every now and again, and I don't think he'll be able to fit his pudgy little face inside this box. I know when Milo has been in Frank's box because he'll walk up to me with litter sprinkles stuck to his nose. Little rascal! Check out these other litter boxes I found in my search for the next best litterbox.......

The one below has to be my favorite of all. Talk about a multi-functional shitter.

Is it just me, or does that cat look totally cranky about getting his picture taken while he's shaking one off?

The best part about Frank's new litterbox? It took him about 5 seconds to get used to it. I was worried he would take a few days to get used to it, but no, I put litter in it and about 5 minutes later I came back to the bathroom and sure enough, he had taken a squeedge. I love my little guy!!

Cool it with the guyliner bro!

Check out this little guy! Do you not completely fall in love with him when you look into those droopy, half-mast Basset eyes? He looks like he's wearing permanent eyeliner. These shots were taken this afternoon, while I was catching up on about 5 Gossip Girl episodes. Milo decided to take a much needed rest on the couch, and allowed me to take a few shots of him relaxing.
After the photo shoot he jumped down from the couch, went outside, threw up and ate it. Gotta love dog behavior. Another thing he does on occasion that makes me get the heebie jeebies? Chows down one of his turds.

A few days ago, Heather sent me this link to an entry on The Pioneer Woman's blog. Loved it. You should check it out. It is a great post, loved the pictures of the paw and the ears (my two favorite parts of Milo).

Could he get any sweeter?

A couple more things I have learned about Milo..... If he finds Frank's food dish, just let him finish it, the growl coming out of his throat is actually quite scary. 1/4 cup cat kibble once every week or so isn't going to make him a fat ass. And my unmutilated hand thanks myself. I took Milo for his first vet visit last week. He's weighing in at a whopping 61 pounds. He's like a full size dog with three inch legs. And something else? His vet looks like a female Tom Petty. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm totally not. Swear to God, they were separated at birth.

Deck the Halls!!

Happy Holidays!! The Thanksgiving / Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year. I love sprucing up the house with decorations and lights. Last Saturday I took advantage of being home sick and decided to get my holiday decorations out. The wreath below is actually real, and it smells awesome. One of my co-workers was selling wreaths for a fundraiser for school so I scored this little guy for a mere $21. Money well spent!
The lighting isn't the greatest in this shot, but as you can see I tucked my pint size tree into the little nook in my living room. It fits the spot perfectly. I love getting out my Christmas ornaments each year. I have ornaments from throughout my entire life, as well as new ones that I've acquired in recent years.

Over the past few years, Casey, Kim, and I have painted homemade ornaments. The one below is from 2005, when my first feline love, Charlie, was still alive and well. The ornament is a saloon that I named "Charlie's"...... who knew that 6 months later he'd be gone. Breaks my heart still when I think about him, and makes me love my animals that much more. I'm getting a lump in my throat just writing this! I'm a softie, what can I say......

There is one of my homemade painted creations from last years session, a bright eyed penguin. The red shiny car in the shot was one of many ornament gifts from my Aunt Judy. Before she retired, she owned her own travel agency and whenever she traveled, she would always bring my sister and I an ornament. I probably have about 10 special ornaments from Aunt Judy.

This paper angel was found a couple years ago in a cute little Ballard boutique. That silver ball to the left is also an Aunt Judy ornament.

Along with the many ornaments from my childhood, and my ornaments from Aunt Judy, I have a couple other really special ornaments on the tree that are very simple, but really mean a lot to me. A shiny green Christmas ball that belonged to my Memere Far Far Away (my mom's mom that lived in New Brunswick, Canada), and a hen cookie cutter that belonged to my Memere on the Farm (my dad's mom that lived right next door to us in Marysville). They aren't the most spectacular looking ornaments on the tree, but it isn't about that, it is about the stories I remember when I look at them. And that is why I love the holiday season.

You know what else I love about the holidays? Christmas music! My place of employment has already started piping in the Christmas tunes non-stop and I love it! I've had one particular disc on repeat at home.....Elton John's Christmas Party. It is one of those discs they were selling at Starbucks one year. It has become one of my favorite Christmas albums of all time. Lots of non-traditional Christmas songs. Check out the line-up:

Elton John: Step Into Christmas

El Vez: Feliz Navidad

The Ronettes: Frosty the Snowman

Bruce Springsteen: Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

The Beach Boys: The Man with All the Toys

The Flaming Lips: A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn't So)

Pet Shop Boys: It Doesn't Often Snow at Christmas

Rufus Wainwright: Spotlight on Christmas

The Ventures: Jingle Bell Rock

Chuck Berry: Run Rudolph Run

The Crystals: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

Outkast: Playa's Ball

Otis Redding: Merry Christmas Baby

Jimmy Buffett: Christmas Island

John Mayer: St. Patrick's Day

The Eagles: Please Come Home for Christmas

The Band: Christmas Must Be Tonight (one of my favorite Christmas songs EVER!!)

The Pretenders: 2000 Miles

Kate Bush: December Will Be Magic Again

U2: New Year's Day

Elton John and Joss Stone: Calling It Christmas

What are some of your favorite Christmas songs?

Prepping for New Moon......

Yeah, I realize that New Moon poster image is a bit large, but the built up to the movie warrants the enormity of the image. Am I right ladies? Last week some girlfriends and I got together to rewatch Twilight, drink wine, and talk unabashedly about the hotness of Edward Cullen. We needed to reacquaint ourselves with Twilight to prepare ourselves for the release of New Moon, just a few short days away at that point.

I had seen this bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon at World Market a few weeks prior, and bought it as sort of a joke for the Twilight recap night. It actually turned out to be quite good! Made by Vampire Vineyards out of Paso Robles, California. I ended up buying another bottle a few days later, just as good the second time around.

Oh Edward and Bella, your love is so tortured and forbidden. I decided to bust out my werewolf hat, despite the fact that I'm totally Team Edward. I mean, Jacob Black is cool and all, but he is definitely no Edward Cullen. I mean, come on, Edward is immortal. Sure, a werewolf is a mythical creature, but not nearly as badass as a vampire.

As you can tell from this shot of the girls, Cyn may just want to slit her wrists at this point. Check out her body language, it oozes annoyance and boredom. Ashley looks completely enthralled, captivated even! Heather has seen the movie a few times, so I think she's just excited to have little Pip nuzzling up against her side.

And the actual New Moon movie? Loved. It. Loved it more than Twilight, which doesn't take much. I really liked the Twilight book, but felt the movie was so-so. New Moon? So much better. Better acting, better cinematography, better story development, better everything. I want to see it again! And reread Twilight and New Moon.

Anyone else see the movie? Comments?

I am thankful for......

......so many things........

-My awesome family! I would argue that I have the best parents a girl could ask for......loving, supportive, generous, understanding.... I feel pretty damn lucky that the stork dropped me off at Ken and Marg's house 32 years ago. I can't imagine what my life would be like without them. Not to mention my kick ass sis and bro-in-law. One of my favorite moments from Thanksgiving day this year? A quiet moment alone with my sister, laying on her bed, chit-chatting while other family members talked in the other room.
-My awesome friends! My laugh lines and crows feet thank them very much! Friends from grade school, friends from undergrad, friends from grad school.....I couldn't ask for a more solid group of friends.
-Frank and Milo. I really couldn't ask for two more lovable characters. I've had Frank for about 6 or more years now and I can't imagine my life without that little puff of mostly black fur. And Milo? It's only been a month since he entered my life, but I am a lucky girl to have him around. Like I've said more times than I can remember, he's a dear, sweet boy. Even if he gets so excited sometimes that he squeaks out a turd in the house.
-My health. Well, that is in question at the moment seeing that I have a sinus infection and laryngitis:) But other than the occasional ailment, I'm a pretty healthy girl. I think about how other people live with serious illness, and I feel very thankful my only major malfunction is a lazy thyroid.
-Netflix. (Obviously, this is where my "thankful" list goes superficial)..... Yes, Netflix. I thought I was going to cancel it because I ended up having the two same movies at my house for over 4 months, which is a total waste of money. Then I switched up my queue and now I'm all about getting television shows on DVD. I'm currently working on getting through How I Met Your Mother. My new favorite show. Neil Patrick Harris totally makes that show for me....SUIT UP!
-Starbucks Mocha Frappucinos. You know the kind you buy in the glass bottle from the grocery store. These are my guilty pleasure. Almost daily I have one. Less expensive that a mocha from the coffee shop, but just as satisfying.
-Alexander Fleming. He discovered penicillin. You think I'm kidding? Not even close. I've had strep throat and sinusitis enough times to know that without the invention of penicillin, I'd surely be pushing up daisies.
-Sonic Boom Records. See previous fist full o' music posts.
-Sunshine on a cold, crisp day. My favorite kind of Northwest weather. A welcome change from the gray skies with pelting rain we've had the last few weeks. I was about ready to build an ark and start rounding up the animals in pairs.
-Pearl Jam. Bringing me joy since 1992. Wait, let me make a slogan out of it..... Pearl Jam: Gettin' Me Through Since '92. Put that on your bumpersticker and smoke it.
-Seattle. I love you. Still working on my love letter to you. It's quite long, wordy, and sometimes just a bunch of bull $hit, but I know you appreciate it.

These are the things I know.......

.......about Milo, so far.......
1. He is incredibley motivated by food. He could eat his dinner 10 times and still be wagging his tail for more. Sometimes when I'm eating dinner and I'm almost finished he'll whine for my last few bites.
2. He scratches his front paw on the door when he wants to go outside, or come back inside. Its quite cute actually.
3. He DOES NOT like to have his eye goobers cleaned off his face by anyone other than himself. I tried wiping them away with a warm, damp paper towel and he ran away, fast as lightening!
4. He REALLY wants to know what lives at the end of our street, but I like walking the other direction.....someday you'll find out Milo, don't worry.
5. He would love to sleep on the bed, but that is Frank's territory, not going to happen. He settles for next to my bed on his own little dog sized bed.
6. I think he really likes kids, or is just super curious about small people. Yesterday on our walk we saw a toddler walking down the street with his parent and Milo started wagging his tail super fast. Milo kept staring and wagging until the toddler turned the corner and was out of sight.
7. The couch also serves as his giant dog bed. See picture above:)
8. All he wants is love and attention. And I feel pretty lucky that I'm able to give that to him.
9. He has a long, strange, nipple-like skin tag on his chest. It kinda grosses me out sometimes when I'm rubbing his belly and I touch the tag. What if one of my rings catches on that thing? Ewww. I still love him, tag and all.
10. After climbing the stairs he gets super winded. Like 75-yr-old-man-heart-attack-gasping-for-breath-type winded. I guess I would feel the same way if I was trying to climb stairs with three inch legs.

More to come as things unfold.......

New Music

Lord, I have one exact GRIP of music I'm trying to get through listening to. Over the past month or so I have acquired quite the ass load of new music. My most recent trip to Sonic Boom birthed the following:

Jay-Z: The Blueprint 3. Awesome album. I've never actually purchased a Jay-Z album, although I like his music. The Blueprint 3 has been on car ride repeat the last few days. Favorite tracks so far? Run This Town, Empire State Of Mind, On To The Next One, Off That, and Young Forever. He samples Alphaville in Young Forever, good stuff.
Tegan & Sara: Sainthood. I've loved these ladies ever since I heard their album "So Jealous" from 2007. Since that point I have invested in their entire catalogue with no regrets. I have yet to dive in to this album, but just from listening to the first few tracks, I have no doubt it is going to be a favorite.

Have you checked out U.S.E? I fell in love with them when I saw them live in 2004 or 2005, then their self-titled album came out in 2005 and it was game over from then on. Their live show rocks, it is like going to a party where EVERYONE is excited to be there. High energy, lots of dancing, awesome. I'm totally looking forward to checking this new one out, although I was sorta disappointed because the first track on the album is kind of a slower one, I was hoping for energy right out of the gate!! I'm maintaining a positive attitude about Loveworld though, despite the fact that their debut album is going to be hard to beat.

Devendra Banhart: What Will We Be. I first fell in love with Devendra Banhart after I heard his song "At The Hop" in a commercial for Fat Tire beer a number of years ago. He is one performer that I can not wait to see live. I've had "What Will We Be" on repeat in the house all day today, and so far? Loving it. Definitely slow and folky, so if you're not in to that kind of sound, Devendra isn't for you.

Some other albums I've bought in the last month or two:
Volcano Choir: Unmap
Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Built to Spill: There Is No Enemy
Run Rabbit Run: Osso performs Sufjan Stevens
Explosions in the Sky: All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Lou Barlow: Goodnight Unknown
Where The Wild Things Are: Soundtrack

Albums I'm borrowing from Casey & Kim:
Vampire Weekend: Self-Titled
Fruit Bats: The Ruminant Band
The Pica Beats: Beating Back The Claws of the Cold
The Maldives: Listen to the Thunder
Phosphorescent: For Willie

Recent iTunes downloads:
I've been on a huge Tom Petty kick after watching the documentary, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down A Dream. If you have 4 & 1/2 hours to spare, I highly recommend it. Anyway, I've downloaded a few Tom Petty songs: I Won't Back Down, Yer So Bad, You Don't Know How It Feels, and The Waiting.
Britney Spears: 3 (guilty as charged)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack
Madcon: Beggin' (download this song immediately, it is THE SHIZ!!)

Any other music I need to check out??

Happy Halloween!!! OH YEAH!!!!!

Halloween 2009 turned out to be the best Halloween of the past few years. We dressed up, we gathered, we had a great time. The only downer of the whole night was that Nic and Heather were not in attendance. Maybe next year!

So, my costume this year did not end up being any of my previous ideas.....no Angus Young, no Coraline, no Yeti.......but it did turn out to be just as awesome, if I do say so myself. I was the Kool-Aid man. Luckily, I was on vacation the entire week leading up to Halloween, so I actually had time to come up with something that didn't suck. I've been known to pull some pretty weak costumes together when under pressure. I bought a large picture frame box from the U-Haul store to make the front and back of the costume, and I used a medium sized moving box as a frame to support the costume. Throw in some black elastic suspenders, some red and black craft paint, and you've got yourself a homemade Kool-Aid man costume. What I didn't realize when making the costume is that bending over in the costume would be an impossibility, as would sitting. Regardless, I still had massive amounts of fun yelling "OH YEEAAAHHH!!!" for most of the evening.
Kyle had his 1st Annual Halloween Party at his new digs. Lots of food, drink, beer pong, and karaoke led to an awesome evening. Although Casey and I both compared stories last night and apparently we both woke up at around 3 am feeling like we were going to heave even though we didn't drink that much. I blame all the different kinds of food. At this age, you can't really expect mixing bacon-maple dip, donut holes, brisket, and riot punch is going to end up going smoothly. Ugh, my stomach still aches. Check out Kim and Casey's awesome costumes below. Casey won "Most Creative Costume", he sewed his very own Max costume from Where The Wild Things Are. Kim also represented the a character with her kick-ass Carol costume. Look out Project Runway, Casey's costume was a fierce! Can't wait to see what he has up his seamster sleeves next year.

Kyle's costume was all about perversion. His name was Stanley Mooncastle, and he carried around an issue of Tigerbeat magazine in his back pocket. Watch out all you underage kiddos..... He also could have moonlighted as a character in the Beastie Boy's "Sabotage" video. Cyn went as an evil Catholic school girl. Little piggy tails and devil horns never looked so sweet:)

A few Halloweens ago, Nic and Heather's Halloween costumes were highschool Jon and Ashley. Does that make sense? Let me explain again. Nic dressed up as highschool Jon, and Heather dressed up as highschool Ashley. So this year, Jon and Ashley decided to dress as their highschool selves, it was pretty funny. They both wore actual clothes they wore in highschool. Pretty impressive, I don't think I could squeeze into my highschool clothes if I tried. Single tear......

Oh gawd....Kyle's costume was just dirty. But in the best kind of way.

Thanks for throwing an awesome party, Kyle and Cynthia! Can't wait for Halloween 2010!!!

happy birfday tinner !!!!!

Today my big sis turns 35!! As far as I'm concerned, we are still in our 20's and will remain that way for another couple decades. Am I the only 32 year old out there that still feels like I'm 22? And it's not that I am afraid of getting older, it's just crazy how fast time really does fly. Last night my parents stayed the night at my place and we met up with Chris and Mike in West Seattle for some birthday celebration dinner at the Elliott Bay Brewery. Delicious. My sister is one of the most amazing persons I know (is that grammatically correct?). She is generous, honest, funny, crafty, intelligent, beautiful, curious, passionate, eclectic, loving, inspirational.......the list could go on and on and on.......what I'm trying to say is that in the world of sisters, she's the bees knees. Chris is an amazing knitter, she makes beautiful pieces of clothing that would knock your knitted socks off. She's my partner in crime for Pearl Jam shows, as well as tons of other rock shows. She's the mother to a nutty nine year old dog and 3 twelve year old cats. She's an awesome wife to Mike, they are the cheese to eachother's macaroni. We are alike in a lot of ways, and different in a few.......we both cry at the drop of a hat (but mostly those tears of joy and inspiration kind of cries), she likes CSI, I like Deadliest Catch. We both have subpar vision and dysfunctional thyroid glands. One of the coolest things about Chris is the fact that she has worked in the field of land conservation for 14 years. She can hold her own in conversations about hockey and football. She supports Mike's love of exploring the world of foods that will surely lead to quadruple bypasses (Luther burgers, poutine, Dave's Famous Feast). Like I said before, bees freaking knees folks!

Chris and Mike bought their first house this past summer. Their new back yard is filled with various fruit bearing foliage. This year Chris decided to make grape freezer jam with the ton of concord grapes they have sprouting in the yard. Last night she sent my mom and I home with a jar of the jam, it is absolutely delicious. Sign me up for a couple jars from next season's crop.

In true mom and dad fashion, my parents woke up this morning at 6am. No joke. Some of you may not think 6am is a big deal, but it is for me. Even when I have to work the morning shift at the old pill factory, I don't wake up til 7:30ish. Anyway, after rubbing the goo out of my eyes, I made blueberry scones for breakfast. Top those scones with some Brummel & Brown and some of my sister's homemade grape jam and you've got yourself the breakfast of champions.

Tomorrow Chris and I are heading to Bellingham for potato burritos and boutique shopping. Can't wait. Happy birthday Tin!!