I Love You, Sam!

My little buddy Sam had surgery a week ago. I made him a couple of creatures to divert his attention from his pain if only for only a few minutes. Sam, I love you and I'm wishing on every star you feel better soon!

No Satisfaction: A tragic lunch story

In an effort to eat a filling yet non-super-fatty lunch today, I spent 25 minutes trolling the aisles of the grocery store. Here’s how it all went down.

The deli aisle proved to have too much mayo.

The only thing at the salad bar that didn’t give me a gagging feeling in the back of my throat was the 7-layer salad which is basically 7-layer dip.

I moved on to the cracker and chip aisle sensing that nothing there was going to give me satisfaction.

I walked briskly to the frozen aisle section filled with a sense of relief knowing that my lunch was hiding somewhere behind the frosty doors. It wasn’t. I found a bunch of options that I decided were all simply frozen chemicals shaped into what looks like food.

Then I had an a-ha moment as I turned to the refrigerated food behind me: Yogurt! But if I have yogurt I want the berries and the granola, too. Too much work.

By this time I’m thisclose to tears because my stomach is eating my spleen. My thoughts were now more in the eat-whatever-you-want-just-do-it-fast camp.

Cheese, yes, cheese. That’s what I want. But not a whole brick. Back to the deli. 2 pieces of co-jack cheese. Check.
Thirsty. Juice. Bottled smoothie – perfect. Check.

I decide popcorn will round out this misfit lunch.

The bagged popcorn is filled with oodles of fat – who knew-but I was now committed to a crunchy food so I obsessively read the labels of the things that I think will be the least artery-clogging. The Pirate’s Booty caught my eye. The low levels of blood sugar had me convinced this was the healthiest option.
Crunchy food: check.

So I sit here back at my desk having just ingested my “lunch” and wished that my blood sugar had spoken to me sooner because I would have gotten that Happy Meal that I really wanted.

Quilt & Color

In anticipation of our new bedroom quilt arriving soon (red-haired Shannon's mom made one for us as a wedding gift - THANK YOU!), I'm posting the palette for our "new" room. Until I see the quilt I won't be able to settle on a paint color. Right now I'm going between grey or yellow.

Armchair Travel

If I could get a passport stamp for every country I visit via the internet I'd win some sort of prize for sure.
Today I stumbled upon this gem—thousands of Photocrom travel prints from the 1890's and early 1900's.
I especially like the ones from Norway. My mom and I were there in 2003 and our pictures don't look much different than these taken so long before.

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Fabulousness

If it’s one thing I love more than being in a foreign land, it’s scouring the streets to find charming shops. Lucky for me London has Liberty which is a department store of YUM.






One floor in particular had me at hello.

It’s like a Craft Apothecary with ribbon capsules and fabric-covered button pills.



I had to limit my purchases because I didn’t have any projects in mind and the price of the fabric was enough to make me be very selective. I curse you, exchange rate!

Goods to declare:


Next time I’m back at Liberty I’m bringing a little stool and a cup of coffee. Because I’m going to be there all day.

  

Married with jet lag

I'm waiting to post wedding pics. But for now you can see the happy couple on the best honeymoon ever in jolly ol' England.

Dress Decision

Here’s a sneak peek at the adorable dress the girls will be wearing! Miss Morgan is pictured below. Could she be any cuter? And I have a feeling this is the last time she’ll be smiling in this dress :)


Addy needed a “big girl” dress so she’ll be wearing this adorable frock!
She will be a ring bearer (or princess in her case):

"So cute I could eat it!"

Just tonight at dinner Dan was commenting about a time when I said a baby was "so cute I could eat it!" Now, I know I have heard other people (probably women) say that before but he thinks it sounds like cannibalism. I see his point.
So when I got home and had an email from Gina sending me to Nieman Marcus to look at a cute dress she found I had to chuckle because her message said this:
"Are you kidding me?! Look at this luscious-ness! can you make this loveliness....if I could eat it I would."
Exactly.

The dress on the left is the edible one. And the one on the right is irresistible, too (and sort of reminds me of a frosted cake!)


Side note: I'm loving ombre right now. This dress is so adorable! (Also found on Nieman Marcus in the "things I'll never be able to afford" section)

He loves me!

Thank you, Dan.
You knew what I wanted and you signed your name.
It's perfect!

Feelin' the Love

I love Valentine's Day. I think it's the colors and the chocolate. And it's the kickoff to the week before my birthday - what could be better than that, right?
This year I needle felted hearts. I strung a monofilament cord through each heart so they could be hung.







I also received Valentine's gifts this year. My friend Gina sent Dan and me a crafted paper heart pouch filled with chocolates - adorable! My sister sent me a heartfelt card (thank you!). And my awesome cousin Ann whom I visited this weekend gave me an uber-cool Vera Bradley drawstring bag which is lined so it's uses are limitless. Plus the print is so great. I love it! Oh, and I guess this was an engagement gift but it happened to be handed to me around Valentine's Day so I'll count it as dual purpose ;)

Can't decide for the life of me . . .

I think I've had more fun thinking about what the flower girls are going to wear than what I am going to wear! But the internet has caused me to go into an eternal cute spiral. The more dresses I find the more they lead me to more dresses which leads me to . . . UGH!

So here is a collection of dresses that I like.


And I'm still debating making them (with friend/coworker help). This dress isn't done yet but it is looking very cute. Practice material - those colors would never be Dan-approved (too many!).

The Sweets

One wedding detail in which I haven't been indecisive is the dessert. Instead of a cake I envisioned a table full of a variety of cookies and bars made from family recipes. So, to prepare for the big day I have slowly been collecting a mix of white trays and cake stands. I've also begun "testing" recipes to make sure the cookies/bars will look good and will hold up in the freezer for up to a month and still taste divine when they're thawed. So far, so GOOD! 

The first batch was my Aunt April's mint chocolate cookies. 
I think I like them on the cake stand.  


Can't you just picture all of these plates full of sweets? AH! I can't wait.

Countdown to Wedding

Alas, I’m back to updating the blog!
I was recently sidetracked with a couple of awesome side projects which I will reveal in the future. Those deadlines have been met and now I’m forging ahead with wedding planning-palooza.

The big decisions are made: Who/What/Where/When
The little ones have not been made: How

Being a crafter, I have visions of DIYing the heck out of this party. It’s January so time is on my side. But things often sneak up on me that I’m not planning on so I’ll take it one project at a time.

Stay tuned. Many updates to come.
(Cake topper by cornflakegirl on Etsy )

2008: A Frantic Finish

The holidays were without a doubt a very busy yet very fun few weeks. I am going to post some pictures of the holiday hubbub along with some pictures of projects I completed along the way.

Monkey Mania:





Shannon's fiancee Dave received a monkey and the little guy couldn't stop staring at Shan:


Isaac is another recipient of a monkey - I can tell this monkey will be loved:


Scarflettes for my Grandma (pink) and my future mother-in-law (blue):



A photo mosaic of my dad's cars:


A couple of birds to put on Etsy:



All the while making time for decorating the tree, participating in wedding shower silliness, and snowshoeing through the beautiful northwoods:




Now for a very productive 2009! More crafting, visiting family, and oh yes, a wedding!