Brrr! It’s a Birthday Blizzard!

Well, apparently Mother Nature decided I deserved a whole lot of snow for my birthday this year. I may not be thrilled about it, but our crazy husky is happy, so at least that DOES make me happy. ❤ We had a lot of fun frolicking around in the snow earlier today and are now nestled in a very cozy pile of pillows and heated blankets while we warm up. That’s one of my favorite things about having huskies in my life: learning to have fun in the snow again like when I was a kid. 🙂

Luckily, we did most of the celebrating for my birthday before the snow started flying. We had a very fun trip over the weekend with Mr. and Mrs. Cupcakes & Machetes and another friend to the Anatomy of Death Museum, lunch at a restaurant that was converted from an old fire station, and we played a bunch of games at a new (to us) arcade. C&M made it her personal mission to take on ALL the pinball machines (her verdict was that The Mandalorian and the Elvira ones were the best!) I think my favorite was racing her and Mr. Moth in a really fun racing game I don’t remember the name of. It was the kind where you look like you’re sitting in a real car, and we had a blast ramming into each other with Nitro power ups. Haha Of course, you can’t go wrong with the classics either, so I made sure to get my fix of Pac-Man, Galaga, and Frogger, to name a few. 😉

The Anatomy of Death Museum was really cool and had a pretty great oddities and antiques gift shop attached to it as well. You enter the museum through a pair of body bags and enter an area loaded to the brim with all sorts of bones, full skeletons, medical abnormalities, embalming supplies, 2 old Victorian style hearses, and more. It was fascinating!

We also had a fun bit of Girl Time, visiting one of our favorite antique/resale shops that was hosting a hot chocolate bar and Make-Your-Own Simmer Pot craft station which was really cool. After that, we also swung by one of my favorite local witchy shops for some plant shopping.

I felt very spoiled this year by all the birthday love I’ve received from my loved ones. ❤ ❤ ❤

Naughty or Nice

Happy Holidays, friends, from the Moth house to yours! ❤

Last year we didn’t dare put up a Christmas tree with Noi still a young enough pup that she was fully in land piranha mode, so we knew a tree simply wouldn’t stand a chance. THIS year, however, we took our chances and decorated our black tree in purple and silver and white, used our traditional shiny antique keys in leu of candy canes, and put the ol’ girl up on full display. We hung our spooky stockings with care and wrapped our black and purple bat garland around the railing over the stairs. I even made a new Christmas wreath to hang on the front door. Needless to say, we were feeling festive as fuck. 😛

But then began the Battle of the Bulbs (history pun completely intended), with many glittering ornaments smacked down to the floor in their prime, and a few even left completely battered and broken. The culprits? 

Asshole #1:

Aliases: Bailey, Bailbo Baggins, Little One, Bailzor, the Nuggie Queen, the Littlest Grinch.

Modus Operandi: Blantant battery of bulbs, no matter the number of witnesses present. Bides her time napping under the tree until selecting her victim and going in for the kill.

Alibi: “The dog did it.”

Asshole #2:

Aliases: Noi, Fluffy Butt Jr., Yeti Butt, Noi “No Bones”, Nocifer, Demon Child.

Modus Operandi: Use of projectiles in the form of toy-tossing.

Alibi: “The cat did it.”

The Verdict? It’s the Naughty List for both of ’em! 

Their Sentences:

Bailey: sentenced to time behind bars (aka: the baby gate blocking her from access to the tree) for her repeated crimes against the holidays, with no chance of parole.

Noi: on parole for use of a deadly stuffed snowman, resulting in accidental homicide of a single Christmas bulb, with the possibility of getting off early due to good behavior since she is a first-time offender.

How have your own holiday decorations been fairing against your little demon-children–er, I mean, lovely sweet fur babies? Hopefully better than we have been in house Moth! 😛 

2023 Illustrations/Crafts

Wow, don’t even ask me where my mind has been the past 2 months since my last post (or more accurately, the last 2 years, if I’m being honest.) Looking back on it, it’s pretty much all been a blur. But as we get ready to throw ourselves headfirst into the holidays, I’m feeling a refreshing bit of clarity and peace, so it seemed a good time to dust off my blog and pop back in to say hello, catch up with all you lovelies, and get back to doing my thing and feeling more like myself again. 2023 wasn’t as big of a year for creative productivity unfortunately. I did manage to squeeze some time in for a few drawings and crafts, so here they are:

The angel and devil sketch I did was older but I went in and redid the line work and added color to finally finish it, so I’m counting this as a 2023 piece. 😉

I wanted to draw something with kind of a vintage retro feel to the art style but also wanted to add a bit of crassness to it as well. It was a fun piece to work on.

Cupcakes & Machetes and I had a blast decorating these ancient Greek inspired terracotta pots on one of our girls’ nights/crafting sessions. Hers is the Pegasus pot on the left and mine is the Cerberus pot on the right. That was also the night we discovered that you could order craft supplies from Michael’s via Instacart. Talk about a game changer! 😛

I had a blast making spooky Halloween wreaths with C&M and a friend of ours for Craft Club (like Book Club, but for arts and crafts!) Speaking of wreaths, I also made a Christmas wreath at that start of December at a very fun and festive wreath-making party hosted by Mr. Moth’s aunt. 🙂

Just a gargoyle (a Grotesque if you want to be technical) done in ink.

Pencil and ink on paper. Between having our own temporary front door spider we named Coraline and this drawing this year was a good exercise in facing my arachnophobia. 🙂

More crafting with C&M, painting cheeky little gnomes. 😛 The top batch are mine and the bottom batch is hers. We probably had TOO much fun painting these and coming up with the different sayings.

lol This was my very brief attempt at the Inktober art challenge this year along with the spider lady and gargoyle pictured above.

My piece I worked on for Imbolc earlier this year. I really enjoyed working on this one and hope to do more related pieces in the coming year.

I only managed to do like 2 drawings for Shark Week this year, but this lemon shark was my favorite. If life gives you lemon sharks, make lemon pun-based art.

I didn’t get to create as much as I’d have hoped this year, but 2024 is right around the corner and I’m ready to make the most of it. 🙂

Is there anything you wish you’d had more time for this year? What sorts of things are you planning on working on in 2024? Who is ready for the New Year??

New Moon, Who Dis?

Woo! It’s a new moon, which means I’m thinking all about new goals and intentions for the weeks to come. This, of course, includes my blog! I wanted to dust some of the old cobwebs off and give the ol’ gal a bit of a makeover. So, I changed my color scheme around to include more purples and updated my header art, as well as my little icon/avatar thing. Nothing too different, just a little bit more life breathed into them.

THE OLD HEADER ART:

ALL-NEW, RE-VAMPED HEADER ART: 

THE OLD ICON ART:

ALL-NEW, RE-VAMPED ICON ART:

I guess I mainly just wanted bolder colors and cleaner line art than what I’d previously had up. It’s a cold, rainy and beautiful fall day out over here, so it’s been the perfect day to get cozy and snuggled up with a blanket and pumpkin spice chai latte with honey and extra cinnamon while I work on giving my blog the update I felt it so badly needed. ❤

This October has been amazing so far and I really hope to keep that momentum up as we draw closer to Halloween. I’ve been doing a lot of writing and editing again on my book after being so busy and burnt out for what feels like ages. Hoping to keep at it, especially with NaNoWriMo right around the corner. 😉

How’s your October going?? What goals and projects are you working on?

October At Last!

Huzzah! October at last! I had the pleasure of ringing in the spookiest of months telling scary stories and sharing laughs over a massive bonfire with friends, all while sipping delicious apple cider cranberry margaritas. Needless to say, it was the perfect way to kick off my favorite month!

Mr. Moth and I made the trek out to Mr. and Mrs. Cupcakes & Machetes‘ neck of the woods this weekend for a frenzy of fun fall festivities: making Halloween crafts with friends, visiting the best cider mill around for dangerously good hard cider slushies and donuts, shopping the cute downtown area where they live, awesome outdoor dining at their local brewery, and the beautiful and really fun wedding of one of our good friends from book club! ❤ I usually hate dancing at weddings, but this one was loads of fun!

Now that it’s officially October, I’ve been participating in the annual drawing challenge Inktober by posting some new art over on Instagram. I may hop around and try prompts from some of the other art challenges going on right now, but we’ll see. I’m not taking it too seriously this year. I just want to not stress and have fun with it. 🙂 I’ll be sharing the drawings here too this month, so expect some random art posts in the next few weeks!

There’s a lot I’m excited for this October, and I can’t wait to share all the spooky fun with you guys. ❤ Let me know what you’re most excited for this October and Halloween season!

Happy Fall

It’s no secret that Fall is my favorite time of year, so of course I have to shout it from the rooftops that the best season around is finally upon us!

I kicked off the season, making a big batch of homemade Zuppa Toscona for at home and to share with my parents. It’s one of our favorite soups to make, and as we get ready for chilly autumn days, I’m already excitedly planning on other soup recipes to make in the months to come. So, if any of you have any suggestions, please let me know! 🙂

This should be a fairly laid back (but still fun) fall compared to years past. Usually we go big for Detroit’s annual massive Halloween bash, Theatre Bizarre, but it’s sadly been cancelled for this year, so we’re just winging it this spooky season. I’m ready for horror movies galore, cozy comfort foods and pumpkin spice EVERYTHING, gorgeous scenic drives, cider mills, and more! 😀

Hope you all have a great weekend! ❤ What are you doing to celebrate the start of autumn??

Rested & Ready to Rock!

Have you ever reached one of those moments in your life where you just need to step back, reflect and do some real soul searching about yourself and what you want in life? That’s pretty much where I’ve been at lately, and I now feel like I’m somewhat ready to find my footing again and move forward.

Thankfully, we recently got back from a very fun and relaxing vacation with the besties. I think we all needed that trip, and it was great to get away and not have to worry about being responsible for anything for a few days. Mr. Moth spotted a really cool book shop called BAM! (Books a Million) that we happily checked out. We each left with some new additions for our bookshelves and Cupcakes & Machetes and I enjoyed some seriously delicious coffee from the book store’s cafe. ❤

Hopefully this latest book haul can help me finish my Goodreads reading challenge before the year ends. I’ve read 42/50 books/graphic novels so far this year, so I think I’m in good shape to complete my goal. 🙂

Fall is fast-approaching, and I always find myself feeling more creative this time of year. Do you have a certain season that brings out your creative side? I just bought my supplies for this year’s Inktober art challenge, and for the most part, I’m digging this year’s prompts.

Given how hectic and crazy things like to be, I’m not even going to attempt to predict how the remaining months of this year are gonna go, but a few things I know I want to continue working on/toward are:

• Inktober art Challenge in October and NaNoWriMo Writing Challenge in November.
• Making more time for myself and the things I want to achieve and enjoy doing.
• Not stressing as much and learning to embrace things/go with the flow more.

What are your big plans for the fall? What kinds of projects and/or goals are you currently working toward? 

Canines, Creativity, Cooking, and a Comeback!

Wow, life has been a whirlwind. I’ve been itching to get back into blogging for a while, but I’ve also been nervous about it since everything is so hectic and busy all the time. Rather than let myself be overwhelmed and stressed about it, like many things I’m currently working on, I’m going to go into this lightly as we finish out the year. In other words, I’m gonna have fun with it. No pressure. No expectations. Just good times and popping in when I can. 🙂

This weekend, as the title implies, is all about dusting off my old blog, catching up with good friends, and doggy sitting with Mr. Moth for Mrs. and Mr. Cupcakes & Machetes for the weekend. Since we’ll be home with all the pooches for the weekend, I figured it was as good a time as any to get creative with some writing and drawing, do a little blogging, and get some groceries to cook some good meals and have a cozy weekend at home. ❤

My life has changed a lot over the past few months and I’m sure most of you can probably say the same. I’ve missed reading your blogs as well, so please fill me in on some of what I’ve missed while I’ve been away. I want to know what you’ve all been up to, how your year has been, and what things you’re looking forward to as we head closer to fall and finish off the year. 😀

2023 BFF Bucket List

Having a fun weekend with my bestie (the notorious Cupcakes & Machetes )  got me thinking about all the fun things I can’t wait for us to do together this year. We spent this weekend enjoying a healthy mix of relaxing while watching movies, playing with the dogs, and starting the new season of The Legend of Vox Machina before bundling up in multiple layers for warmth and venturing off into town to enjoy the local ice sculptures and delicious donuts from one of the food trucks (fluffy mini donuts drowning in Bavarian Cream and chocolate sauce, and chai sugar mini donuts, perfectly fried.) As you can probably tell by Noi’s face in the picture below, they smelled AMAZING, and tasted even better. ❤

So, what other shenanigans do we hope to get up to in 2023? Let’s dive right into our bucket list, shall we? 🙂

Couples trip to Anatomy of Death Museum and local oddities shops.

3 Buddy Reads together throughout the year.

Dress up and attend Marche du Nain Rouge

Celebrate C&M’s graduation from college (last day of class: April 29th!)

Try to finally visit the Toledo Zoo together.

Take the dogs to Watkins Lake Preserve dog trails for nature adventures.

Work on some sort of wood project together this summer involving woodworking and pyrography.

Have C&M beta read the next draft of my book this summer.

Plan an epic joint birthday party for our pups in August.

Photoshoots with the dogs throughout the year.

Annual cookout.

Couples trip to Kalahari Resort and Water Park

Best friend tattoos in September.

Attend the Renaissance Festival together.

Try making some new recipes together.

Cider Mill crawl in the fall.

Make Halloween costumes and attend Theatre Bizarre.

Visit 3 new bookstores neither of us have ever been to.

Looking forward to another amazing year of fun adventures with my partner in crime! ❤

Dorohedoro Read-A-Thon Part 1: Vol. 1 & 2

It’s no secret that I love the anime Dorohedoro. I mean, my husband and I named our husky puppy after the character Noi from it, and we started gathering supplies for working on a cosplay of our favorite dynamic duo Shin and Noi for conventions late last year. 😀

I’ve wanted to make the jump over to the manga series that inspired the anime for a while now, but at a sprawling 23 volumes, my wallet was a little less enthusiastic about the venture. Thankfully, I have the bestest friends and husband ever, and they treated me to the entire collection at Christmas. (When I tell you my eyes were popping out of my skull when I opened the gift and saw the ENTIRE collection in front of me, it doesn’t even fully convey the excitement I felt.) I was so surprised and elated, and I immediately wanted to shut myself into an isolated cabin in the woods and read each book aloud for all to hear. I mean, that always works out okay in the movies, right? 😉

Much like summoning demons after reading something in Latin that you probably shouldn’t have, it’s always a little intimidating checking out the source material from a show or movie you absolutely love. Will it live up to your expectations? Is the show you enjoy even anything like what you’re about to read? Will you love the characters as much? Will you love them even MORE and then see where the show is suddenly lacking?? These are all legitimate concerns, I feel. So, I am setting that fear aside and stepping forward, excited and curious about the wonders and pitfalls I may encounter exploring my beloved anime’s origins through the manga, and even getting to read beyond where the anime left off to see where the story goes and what becomes of my favorite characters come the end of the series. That said, let’s get on with this Read-A-Thon, shall we? 😀

Dorohedoro, Volume 1, by Q. Hayashida

A blood-spattered battle between diabolical sorcerers and the monsters they created.
Caiman was not lucky. A sorcerer cursed him with a reptile head and left him with no memory of his life before the transformation. Adding to the mystery, there’s a specter of a man living inside him. But Caiman has one key advantage: he’s now completely immune to magic. Along with his best friend, Nikaido, Caiman is hunting down sorcerers in the Hole, searching for the one who can undo his curse and killing the rest. But when En, the head Sorcerer, gets word of a lizard-man slaughtering sorcerers, he sends a crew of “cleaners” into the Hole, igniting a war between two worlds.

I really like the rough, sketchy style of artwork by Q. Hayashida. It perfectly fits the chaotic and hyper-violent world she’s cobbled together for Dorohedoro. Which brings me to another thing I’m enjoying about this series: I’m a total sucker for worldbuilding and complex characters, and Q. Hayashida delivers both in spades. To the point that sometimes you aren’t even really sure which characters you should be rooting for, and which (if any) are actually the bad guys. The series wastes no time kicking off the violence, and from there it only continues along at breakneck speed on its dark and gritty but also silly and fun rampage.

Dorohedoro, Volume 2 by Q. Hayashida

Once a year, hordes of the dead rise and roam the streets of the Hole, hungry for live flesh. And every year, Caiman and Nikaido sign up for the local zombie-killing contest! Whoever sends the most zombies back into the ground will win some fantastic prizes. But the fun ends quickly when En’s cleaners finally track down Caiman and Nikaido. Somebody’s going to lose their head. Literally.

Remember when zombies exploded in popularity and almost became too mundane because of it? Well, the zombies roaming around in the Hole in the second volume of Dorohedoro have a unique twist all their own that makes them anything but boring.

My immediate reaction upon reading the first 2 volumes is being pleasantly surprised by how well the anime stuck to the source material. Even so, both mediums do a good job bringing their own magic to the series, and the manga serves to further flesh out the world and its characters that I’ve come to love in the anime, so needless to say, I very much look forward to reading the rest of this series!

What are you reading right now? Get any good books over the holidays?? If you had to get cursed by a sorcerer and given the head of any animal, which one would you choose??? Inquiring minds want to know!