Link-tastic Friday (Saturday)

On Thursday night, I put on a formal black velvet dress, and got myself ready for the Division West First Army Annual Trainer's Ball.

 
This would be the first time for me to meet some of the people Greg works with every day, and somehow that made me feel just a little panicky in the pit of my stomach. 

 
It didn't help that I had to go alone and meet Greg there, but I put on some dramatic make-up, gathered my courage, and set out. 

 
We had a formal shot taken of us as well, but that won't be here for a few weeks, so here's our "standing around waiting for dinner" pose.

 
It was fun to dress up (our first formal Army dinner in at least 5 or 6 years), even more fun to see Greg in his formal uniform, and even though the food was absurdly bad (almost comically bad), it was still good to put some faces with the names in Greg's office.


Now for this week's links.

Crafty:

• I've been wanting to make one of these Duct Tape Dress Forms for a few years now, but with all of the sewing I've been doing lately, this project has moved to the front of my queue.
• Greg and I are big fans of TXRD, and I've had my eye on these Sublime Stitching Roller Derby themed embroidery designs.  Now if I could just decide what to stitch them on...
• There are some very cool skirt designs/tutorials on Weekend Designer that I would love to try out soon.

Food (savory):

• I want a bowl of this Roasted Tomato Soup RIGHT NOW (via Steamy Kitchen)  
• When I saw the recipe for Olives with Lemon Confit at Inspired Taste, I was suddenly craving just exactly that.  And I've never eaten it before.  Has that ever happened to you?
• Joy The Baker posted the recipe for her Fancy Grilled Cheese the very morning I was going food shopping.  So of course I stocked up on the ingredients to make this tasty sandwich for lunch that day.  Delicious!  Next time I'll make it without the ham though.  All the better to focus on the goat cheese...
• Another recipe for Pho, this time with a beef broth (via Inspired Taste).  Now if I could just find a good source for beef bones.

Food (sweet):

• Speculaas Muffins sound like they're named after a medical instrument, but from the sound of it, this is an unusually delicious muffin/cookie hybrid.  I'm definitely going to give these a go (via Everybody Likes Sandwiches).
• Berries with Sweet Cream is one of Greg's very favorite desserts (via Pioneer Woman Cooks).
• Peanut Butter Banana Bread.  I had some super-ripe bananas sitting on my counter, so I had barely finished reading this recipe when I went straight into my kitchen to make it!  I put chocolate chips in mine, and OHSOTASTY (via Joy The Baker).