Buster is in the hizouuuuuse!

Thats right!!! He has finally arrived. We picked him up Saturday from "exotic underworlds"
That place is freaking sweet. It's like a zoo....but a zoo that only has fish, lobsters, snakes, lizards, and spiders. It's a privately owned place and you can tell because the people that work there know EVERYTHING about everything.

They had this GIANT spider there, it looked like it weighed at least 3lbs. When I saw it, chills ran down my spine. It had a sign on the glass that said "this guy eats birds!" I don't know about you, but a 3lb spider that takes down birds is not coming home with me. F-that.

We weren't sure if they had any lobsters in stock, but they said that they like to hide sometimes. So one of the workers reached down and picked up a giant piece of drift wood in the tank, and wouldnt you know it, TWO lobsters ran out. We sat and talked about what he eats, what fish could survive being in the tank with him, and how to take care of him.

The tank Buster was in was crammed with fish; all sorts, even a beta (which I thought kills other types of fish). There were a few loaches in there too. Those goofy bastards were getting pestered by the two lobsters in the tank. They are bottom dwelling fish that just like to sit and chill...Buster and his tank mate werent having that. They would constantly wait for them to settle, then run over and pinch them, watch them flip out, relocate, and repeat the process. It was hilarious.

Buster was more blue than the other, and doing most of the pinching so we picked him. On to the pictures:

First impressions.


Getting to know his surroundings.


I'll peeeeench you!


Strike a pose!


In a hurry to go....somewhere.


Scheming on Hanzo.

The Snooty Snout

"Luxury Indulgences for the Pampered Pet"
This is the tag line for The Snooty Snout, a client of my company's which had their open house Saturday evening. Since my boss is away on a volunteer trip in Guatemala, Matt and I went in her absence since we live only two blocks from the store. I worked on The Snooty Snout's business cards, letterhead and sign, so I had a pretty good idea what the shop was going to be like–over-the-top and very pink. I was right.

We walk up to the store and find a catered, gourmet puppy buffet outside. A full spread of doggy goodies that looked so good even I'd eat them. The entryway is floor to ceiling hot pink chiffon–it makes you feel like you're on the inside of an 80's prom dress, ha ha–completely a fire hazard, although I doubt this place would pass ANY inspection. The floors, furniture & many items for sale are covered in leopard print, with the exception of the kitchen–that is zebra print.

We felt a little left out being the only people there without a canine companion. Our efforts to "borrow" Jeremy & Jennifer's dog, Maddie, were fruitless, probably because they knew we'd never give her back :) I doubt any pet we brought would fit in with the pampered pooches in attendance. There were some real cuties there, but any pet that has a contemporary, oil painting portrait or professional photo shoot is a little too spoiled for our taste. One thing we didn't see were the infamous 25K-250K custom dog collars The Snooty Snout supposedly sells. Yup, those are thousands! I don't know who would ever spend that much on a dog collar. It makes your pooch an instant target for dog-napping and makes you a target for ridicule when you call the insurance company to try to insure it.

Overall, the experience was very entertaining. Here's some pics:

The Puppy Buffet:


The guest book w/ pink feather pen–you can see the pink chiffon on the wall:


A few elite Savannah-ites w/ their pampered pets:


I doubt he really wants to be wearing this boa:


So cute. The owners found her in the street & took her in:


Our introduction to the basenji, a breed which yodels instead of barks:


We couldn't help but take a picture of this little guy–too adorable:


For her sign outside, the owner wanted something that looked like the frame from "Friends"

Ok, we totally need these. They are lunchboxes and they are AWESOME! http://www.builtny.com/VGCMS/vg_root/site_root/showPage.php?pageID=1611

Sweet, chewy AND delicious?!?!

Ok. I believe it's time for a serious confession. I've met someone. I've met someone who is sweet, tangy and completely delicious.

Well, I met this special someone quite a few years ago - but we've just recently been reunited (...and it feels so good)!

Twerpz. My chewy, delicious friend is now back in my life. Woo hoo! Twerpz disappeared when I was seperated from Bridgit and Matt (who always kept a stash of these babies at work) but now...we are together again!! Finally!

Below is my first encounter with my long lost love, and I somehow managed to devour the entire bag in one sitting. ::gasp:: I mean, delicious! ;

This is how you eat a hot dog. Hot Dog!

The other day we had a classic dinner. Hot dogs with Mac and Cheeeeeeese. Don't be jealous!
This is how I eat mine. Uh huh :-D

Step right up folks, world's smallest lizard…

We came home from a friend's house tonight to find the world's smallest lizard was chilling in our living room! We walk into the room and Matt sees the lizard–we'll call him RugRat–zoom across the floor onto the shag carpet to try to hide. After a brief photoshoot in which I think we may have temporarily blinded the poor little guy, we engaged in Mission: Release the Lizard. Matt scooped him up, but RugRat didn't like the elevation and decided to high dive off his hand. Luckily RugRat landed on Matt's leg, not the ground, and proceeded to get a little too friendly with him by trying to hide in the crevice of his jeans. After some juggling of escape attempts and more admiring of his tininess, we managed to get him outside. Matt put him on the wall behind the house where we had seen a few of his siblings earlier in the night & he darted away to safety.

Long story short, we had a pet lizard for about 5 minutes :)

I hope the pics do his size justice. You'll notice he's about the size of a strand of shag carpet:

What's that you hear? Oh, it's sweet, sweet music!

Ok...I would just like to say that extreme musical "talent" must run in the Jellison family's blood!

First, there is my remarkable ability to channel Tina Turner at the drop of a hat. Busting out soultry ballads such as Proud Mary, or talking bout' "What's looooove got to do with it?" Wow...what a talent!

Next, comes the strange yet impressive talent that my 10 month old nephew (that's right folks...only 10 month's old) has seemed to acquire overnight. Playing the XYLOPHONE. He's a xylophone prodigy, people! Watch as Gavin dances his way to the most amazing xylophone performace the East & West coast has ever seen!!

Falling for New Yooooork!

(In a VERY tough, New York Accent)

Yo, Auntie B and Uncle Matty - it's me...Maddie! I'm in New Yooooork! Anyway, I had a scary accident yesterday that I think it's important you know about. I was bringing my piggy up the loft stairs to Jimmy (yes, I've learned to climb the stairs to the loft by myself) and somehow, I managed to lose my footing and fell all the way down the stairs!
Luckily my mom was there to catch me before I hit the bottom - but I was really scared - I mean - I wasn't really scared - I was just pissed at piggy for being such a jerk and making me fall. Anyway, I'm accepting sympathy gifts - so please send all of your love and many squeaky men/flossies to me at my new address!!

NEW YOOOOOORK!! XOXO Maddie

Acapulco Chicken

One specific function of this blog is for Katie & I to exchange recipes. Tonight's dinner at la Casa de Perry was Acapulco Chicken.

Ingredients for 2 servings:
2 chicken breasts cut into pieces
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 Jalapenos seeded & minced
1 large tomato, cut into chunks
10 drops of hot sauce

Directions:
Season chicken w/ 1/2 tbsp chili powder, salt & pepper. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Saute chicken. Remove from skillet & keep warm. Stir fry bell peppers & onion until soft. Add jalapenos, tomatoes, remaining chili powder & hot sauce. Cook for 3-5 mins. Add chicken & cook for an additional 2 mins. Serve over rice.

Alterations:
We didn't have a tomato, so I used a can of Rotel instead. (I had no idea what Rotel was before I dated a Mexican, but its awesome. It's diced tomatoes and green chilies in a can.) I added a jalapeno anyways because Matt's addicted to them :)

Results:
This dish definitely has a kick to it. I thought it was hot, Matt, on the other hand, added more Frank's Xtra Hot, ha ha. It took about 45 mins to make w/ all the prep time, and about 15 to eat :)

Banana Spider (mom you may want to skip this post)

Matt and I saw this beast outside our friend's house today: a Banana Spider. It's huge! We tried to get a picture of it with one of our hands to give you some perspective, but neither of us really wanted to get that close :) We did get one shot w/ Matt's fingers–although his hand is much closer to the camera than the spider. They're not aggressive or venemous, but we'd rather just admire from afar.

One step closer to Buster.

So we finally got around to purchasing the humble abode that will soon house our kick ass blue lobster who we've already named...."Buster". It is a 37 Gallon freshwater fish tank, complete with light, water pump system, and "biowheel" as they call it.

It's pretty cool, it's black, has a flat top, and a mirror in the back. We've set it up, added the goodies that stabilize everything and have selected two fish to test the waters (pun intended). The mirror freaks out our "swordtail"...orange...what-cha-ma call it fish. We named him "Hitori HansoFish" (the infamous sword smith from KillBill) because of his sword tail, and the other one is a Black Moore which I've named "Clarence Kingfish the 3rd". (any Amos and Andy fans out there?).

Hitori Hansofish stares at himself all day, making strange gestures at his reflection. We're thinking he assumes there is another male fish in the tank, so he's being all bad ass about it. Clarence on the other hand, is pretty laid back. He doesn't mind the mirror, and just goes about his business eating food, and wiggling his hind quarters to get around the tank.

Anyway, here are some photos.

37 Gallons of Lobster Loveshack


Clarence KingFish the 3rd


Hitori HansoFish


I bet you can guess how long that lasted before I fired them in; bag and all.
j/k :-D


We also took some video of the fish in action, i'll post those shortly.

Flea Market Extravaganza

What do you do when it rains the entire Labor Day Weekend? In Savannah, you can go to Keller's Flea Market to see low country, southern stereotypes in action. We visited their website before going, and it gave a pretty accurate insight to what was in store–cluttered, unorganized, outdated goodness. I've never seen so many Confederate flags, cowboy boots, or unattended children in one place. The Southern accents were so thick here, I mistook many of them for whole other languages.

I'm convinced you can buy just about anything at this flea market–bootleg everything, scared puppies crowded 10 to a cage, out-dated technology, antiques, every promotional cup set ever released by McDonald's in the 80s, a pet skunk, and–as proudly advertised by one vendor–size 50DDD bras. Despite all the temptation, we were able to control ourselves & leave with only photographs:

The old Keller's Farm truck:


This is just creepy…


Canon Rebel, meet your ancestors:


Holy crap…literaly:


Cool rusted-out farm equipment:


Random, old, dusty stuff:


If we were allowed to have a dog, we would have saved one of these poor guys:


There was even stuff hanging from the rafters:


I know we don't work for Pepsi anymore, but we couldn't resist the Shaq Attaq Paq:


…and more Pepsi:


The gargantuan, flamboyant cow out front leaving no doubt you've found the flea market:


Not a bad way to spend a rainy Saturday :)