Fixin' Leaks and Leeks

A sensitive creature, the basil in our yard has somehow determined that the world is basically a tire that has been set ablaze—and so it must grow profusely, while it can. It has grown so much that when I ask Nate to simply grab “a few sprigs” of basil for a little sauce I’m making,… Continue reading Leave the Cooking to Basil

Follow a trail of smashed cupcakes to a break room filled with popped balloons and overturned chairs—and you’re smack-dab in the middle of the wildest work-related baby shower you’ve ever seen. Well, maybe not super “wild,” but reckless in the sense that you left a stack of papers on your desk for a good 1-2… Continue reading Craft Alert for When Everyone at Work is Having Babies

On a steamy, steamy day–ripe for intense, sultry embraces with adventure–I went looking for clams. I needed something to satisfy the depths of my seafood cravings. I was clamming up with a desire that only the Pacific Northwest could rake up from the sand. And Nate was not far behind. We found it at the… Continue reading Clam-a-Bam! I’m in Love

A shell-shocking screech, from inside our beach mementos collection, triggered the craft alert. According to highly scientific hypotheses that will never be proven with actual science (it’s literally just a hunch), ocean sounds trapped inside conch shells and such, can suddenly just “erupt.” The resulting sound is thus: “eeeeeooowwwwhooosh!” I’m no shell whisperer, but I… Continue reading Craft Alert: Knotty Nautical Necklace

After a bucket of butter took a tumble from a large piece of flatbread I attempted to share with my family at a restaurant, I walked out wearing the aftermath. Two large butter stains showed up on a light jacket I used to keep the air conditioning from blasting me with a tempest of arctic… Continue reading Spot On!

A blast of orange-scented moisturizing magic flung me into another dimension, from which I might never escape. It all started when Alex finished a shift at his summer job, working for a sunglass company in the mall. The sunglass kiosk is situated in a corner of a major department store, right next to the skin… Continue reading Hands-On Experiment With Moisturizing

Taking interior decorating to a wacky new level of weird, I believe, can be healthy for a marriage. Let’s face it; finding ways to add surprise and spice to a marriage is the secret to a long, happy life, so I decided to add a touch of whimsy to some of Nate’s things. I stuck… Continue reading Spice Things Up with Wiggly Eyes: Marriage Tips

Spin your animal crackers around a whirling cloud of ice cream, until they’re foaming at the mouth with whipped cream and sprinkles—just like what you might see in nature. The result is a delightful carousel sundae, which I did not invent. Denny’s invented it, and, when I was a child, it was my reward for… Continue reading Carousel Sundae

Fresh and green and ready to take on the world, guacamole charges out of the kitchen, in a bowl, like a champion. Then, something happens. Something sad, something grayish brown and icky, creeps over the top, and you wonder if your guacamole is turning on you in the worst way. Scientifically speaking, the air does… Continue reading Guacamole Experiment

Grab a wacky tie that’s festooned with a dizzying array of rubber ducks and beer steins—and throw it in the trash! What the father-figures in your life really need is a painkiller. At least, that’s what Nate, the featured father of the Fixin’ Leaks and Leeks Team, says he wants for Father’s Day—and he has… Continue reading Father’s Day Fun!