April 2008 Archives

Our most popular designs at the puppytoes.net store reside in our Poker Gear section. In fact, our store was founded on two poker designs - "Poker Bitch" and "No Offense". These ideas were born in a semi-delirium after countless hours at the poker table. In fact, the puppytoes.net store is now the official home of The Original "No offense, but I hope you lose" tshirts. Yes, they've been copied, but that's a post for a different day.

Given the popularity of our Poker Gear, we've decided to brand it as part of puppytoespoker.com, a new-but-not-yet-finished entry portal to our Poker Gear Section. We'll have direct links to all our great designs plus links to and news from the Poker World. Maybe even a interactive area for bad beat stories.

But it's all still in the design phase, so check back every now and then for updates!

Ok, so I know I promised I'd post a yummy-but-good-for-you honey mustard chicken recipe, but I changed my mind. This morning I was preparing for a girls' night we're having tomorrow - filled with gossip, Wii playing, vodka, and good food - and I made a pineapple angel food cake for the occasion.

And now the smell of warm sugar is wafting through the house.

My parents were the ones to tell me about it several years ago, and then I just kind of forgot about it. But this past week a bunch of us were planning a luau-themed party and it just jumped right back into my head.

Besides being absolutely delicious, you want to know the best part about it? It's easy to make, low in calories and fat free*!

So here's my gift to you - a fat-free*, low-cal, delicious summery treat. And if anybody asks, you can tell them, "As a matter of fact, I CAN eat that!" Better yet, follow the link and grab yourself one of the shirts - maybe it'll stop anyone from saying something in the first place.

OK, so here we go...

Ingredients:
1 16 oz. box angel food cake mix
1 20oz. can crushed pineapple in juice (not in syrup!)
1 container cool whip topping*

* The cake without the cool-whip is entirely fat-free. To keep the entire dessert fat-free, use fat-free cool whip!

Directions:
Mix the entire can of pineapple and the cake mix - don't use the water as the recipe calls for on the box! Only use the cake mix and pineapple with juice. Also, don't use a mixer as the back of the cake box will direct, simply stir the two together well with a large spoon or other stirring utensil. Make sure you don't grease your pan(s), then bake and cool (upside down) as directed on box.
You can "frost" the cooled cake with the cool whip, or simply leave it unfrosted and serve it with a dallop of cool-whip on top.

That's it! A nice, light, fat-free, sweet summery treat. And yes, you CAN eat that!

Shortly after the puppytoes.net store opened for business, I added a Safety and Warning Signs section to our shop. I was inspired to do so after sitting in on a safety meeting where the main topic was exactly that - Safety and Warning Signs.

I've seen that particular presentation several times before (in fact, I've even presented Safety and Warning Signs training before), so instead of focusing on the actual training, I found my mind wandering. I began taking the signs out of context and realized they would be really funny on t-shirts.

The first one I thought of was of course, Irritant, because seriously, don't we all have someone irritating in our lives? Someone we could just go up to and say, "You know, I was shopping online today and I saw the perfect shirt for you!" Frankly, I know a lot of people I could give that t-shirt to.

So we started adding more of these standard warning signs - the ones that when taken out of the laboratory (or any workplace, for that matter), would elicit a good chuckle when seen on a t-shirt.

But last week I guess I started to get the itch for the dramatic. Maybe dramatic is the wrong word - but specifically, how could I incorporate some of these safety warning symbols in a more stylish way?

I started thinking some of the warning symbols would look really neat if they were done in a runny and splattered spray paint effect. After going through several prototype designs, I didn't like the effect. But I came up with a new idea.

What if these warning symbols were done in a negative-spray-splatter-stencil type effect?

What the hell am I talking about? Well, read on...

I know, I know... I promised it would be about two weeks before our new designs were unveiled. Well, in theory, it was - I just didn't have the time to write about it.

So I'm back - germ free this time, although I do have a nasty little case of whiplash... don't walk down a wet, grassy hill in flip-flops, kids. Trust me.

And now that I'm back, I'm officially announcing the launch of our new line of Diet and Weight Loss designs at the puppytoes.net store.

If you remember from my teaser post last month, I hinted that the designs had to do with the seven wretched days I spent with the Norovirus. Out of those seven days, I spent the first four days unable to eat anything and the next three eating only bananas, apples, and toast. As I was getting dressed that last day I realized my jeans felt a little loose. I hopped on the scale and saw I lost about 10 pounds.

Even though the time I spent with the Norovirus was hell, I looked at it as an opportunity to get my butt back in shape. I was in great shape several years ago, then an ugly knee injury forced me to basically sit on my butt for almost 9 months. As my energy dwindled away, I slowly gained weight. I figured there was no way on earth I was going to be able to motivate myself to get back in shape again. For a long time I was looking for some kind of activation energy to get myself moving again.

Well, thank you, Mr. Norovirus. You became my activation energy.