Sunday, December 30, 2012

A Late Christmas Post

We all had the same rather horrible cold for Christmas, so our festivities were rather subdued.  Darling Daughter still made beignets with help from her brother.  Yum!!
I got some books that have been fantastic and highly entertaining.
Husband got a box of crackers that made him laugh.
We played a new card game Husband bought, which while an incredible amount of fun, is not for the younger kids or those easily offended.
All in all, it was a slow day with lots of good food and as much laughing as we could manage while coughing. :-)

Friday, December 21, 2012

Happy Solstice!

I decided that today would be the start of the holiday festivities.  This lets me make all the lovely edibles I planned to make that caught my fancy the last few months and brings a little joy a bit earlier than expected.
One of the pretties on my list to make was this outstanding eggnog cake over at Sprinkle Bakes  I suffered from a lack of sugar cone to adorn, so I melted down some white chocolate, printed out a stencil, made a mess and liberally applied sprinkles. My frosting is pastel green instead of pink and I may have given it a bit of a spray with edible gold paint after it was all assembled.  It's still one of the best decorated items I've ever produced (even if I did actually throw the candy snowflake pieces at the sides of the cake).
We also made truffles.  I made the base last night, the kids rolled them this afternoon...and I may have hit them with the edible gold spray as well.  It's so much fun to play with!
A bit free-form in the shape department, but outstandingly tasty.  They are a modified version of these  golden snitch truffles
There's also a plan to make a mulled red wine cake to go with Christmas dinner as well as some of my favorite Greek almond cookies...and then eat leftovers through New Year's day. ;-)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Not technically on the To-Do list

Though it will look lovely with the black velvet dress I plan on wearing to the holiday office party.  It was going to be a shrug, but I didn't like the way the shrug looked with the neckline of the dress, so we are going with the 1950's cocktail party look instead.   While I pondered this look, there seemed to be a need for something around the hand/forearm area.  First, I thought of the not quite elbow length black satin gloves I have, which might look a bit overly formal... what about some fishnet lace armwarmers? Genius! They'd be done in a day! 
It's been three days.  I have ripped and re-cast five different times as well as having changed yarns once.  A start had been made with a pattern written by someone else, which didn't look quite the way I wanted, so of course I started trying to design my own.
This is not going so well either.
The basic pattern looks exactly the way I hoped, but the sizing is kicking my behind,as the lace is stretchier than I expected.  Paired with the current state of my hands and nails...those satin gloves might be the best option.
Possibly providing a bit of time to attempt to end the battle between my hair and the curling iron.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Trying something different

Today I decided to take a different approach to knitting for my family this holiday season.  Instead of stressing myself out with deadline knitting (along with the baking and decorating and gifts that have to be mailed out and the standard shopping), panicking over whether or not items will be finished on time, not to mention liked by the recipients, I decided I would let them choose a pattern and the yarn(s) involved.
My kids, being decidedly geeky teenagers, picked superhero themed fingerless mitts with large grins on their faces. 
The project for my husband is a bit more ambitious, but as it uses ten rather large skeins of yarn from my stash and he picked a fairly uncomplicated pattern, I may get through his sweater in time for him to wear it next year.  Maybe. The odds are improving on a daily basis as I slowly but steadily keep working through all the unfinished projects currently on my needles.  Every once in awhile I may pause and make a pair of fingerless mitts or knit marathon style on something needed immediately.  This works out.  It keeps me from casting on any large new projects before I finish the ones in front of me.  So far.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Still eating leftovers...

just having to go a little old-fashioned at this point.  No complaints though, as homemade turkey soup with cheese tortellini(dried) and spinach(frozen) is really quite tasty.  Chuck in a handful of quartered cherry tomatoes picked this morning and it's kind of amazing. 
I think next time I will let the soup simmer away in the crock-pot instead of having to tend it on the stove, fewer interruptions to my knitting. ;-)


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Non-holiday stuff

Okay, so I will admit, it's not really "stuff", most of it's knitting.  And...well okay it all involves knitting.  And while maybe that lovely green fluffy ball is being made into a shrug to wear for the office holiday party that is happening in December.  The rest of it is totally selfish knitting or reading and knitting as the case may be,and as such, also completely deadline free.
The book is called Needles and Artifice from the lovely Ladies of Mischief   and I absolutely adore it! Steampunk and knitting! In one book! So very outstanding!
Sadly, with all the gift making I am doing, (there's a backlog at this point, sorry all),  plotting which projects to make (almost all of them) and yarn acquisition for the lovelies in the much beloved book will probably end up waiting till at least February, with April being more likely.
The striking band of blue lace is the border for the Rivendell shawl designed by the wonderful Erica of Fiddle Knits.  The pattern has been nothing short of addicting and just beautiful!  It's being worked in Dream in Color Smooshy, Nightwatch colorway, that I dug out of the yarn stash.
The heathered red ball is  Full Circle from KnitPicks, in the Robin colorway, and is being used to work up The Lonely Tree shawl,  which I am also enamored with right now.
One of the things that makes these projects perfect to work on in between gifts, they are all worked on fairly large needles, the smallest being on U.S size 8's for me to get gauge, so my hands get a bit of a rest from the much more fiddly projects worked on finer needles.

Just as an aside, I would like to point out that only one out of the three projects is green.  For those who notice that sort of thing. ;-)

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

Celebrating the U.S. holiday with the required excessive amount of food.  I console myself with the knowledge that even the orange flavored marshmallows that topped the sweet potatoes were handmade (courtesy of my talented daughter). 
Happily, no one seems to be adverse to leftovers for the next week. :-D

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Lots of knitting...

I just can't show you most of it as it's of the holiday sort.  The sweater is Irish Coffee from Baby Cocktails. The gray mitts are the zombie viXen pattern (Ravelry link) from Susan Claudino. The brown mitt awaiting a mate is the District 12 mitts by Bethany McRae (pattern can be found on Ravelry as well).  Love these patterns!
It's been a practical way to break up the holiday knitting marathons, (still not sure I will get it all done), since most of my fingerless mitts were in need of replacement and most of my sweaters got bequeathed to others.  It does slow down the holiday knitting output...but on the plus side, my brain doesn't melt and ooze out my ears. :-D
I may have joined another knitalong this past weekend (that puts the tally up to three for November/December), though I think I should be forgiven as it's Hobbit themed.  I have almost no willpower against things Tolkien.  It also encouraged a stash dive, which yielded beautiful results for a colorwork cowl and a shawl, which have been set aside for when I can start knitting them.  Probably in January. ;-)

Friday, November 9, 2012

Knitting Wallflower

Okay, probably just "wallflower" would work, but today the focus is on knitting. ;-)
In case you hadn't noticed, I love knitting.  I am also rather fond of knit alongs.  The latest that have caught my attention are the Crazy Knitalong  from the Stockinette Zombies and Fat Squirrel Speaks and the Jane's Ubiquitous Shawl knitalong mentioned over at CraftLit   
Yes, I am fond of podcasts as well.
Sadly, there is a problem with me and knitalongs.  I can work to deadlines.  The ones that catch my attention involve patterns or concepts that make me happy; Alice in Wonderland, dragons, stash busting, pretty lace patterns and an assortment of other things have been on the list before.
The problem is putting myself forward.  Attention of any sort (positive or negative) tends to make me uncomfortable.  Having people notice what I have made, especially if there is a compliment involved, disconcerts me.
I love what I make.  I enjoy that people like what I make. Apparently, I just can't handle hearing about it.
That said, I will still participate in the knitalongs, even if I don't say much.  I am still knitting! :-D

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Make one passing comment about the weather...

and the next thing you know it's dropped 20*F, inciting rapid wool knitting for the sake of your fingers!  The real reason to keep extra supplies on hand.  A quick rummage through the stash produced enough yarn in a dark gray and muted amethyst purple to make two pairs of fingerless mitts. A few minutes perusal on Ravelry roaming my pattern library resulted in two patterns, matching my yarn gauge, that had been just waiting to be made.
I'm hoping the first pair will be complete before the weekend is over, my hands are cold!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

This piece from Urban Threads has been transferred to a banner from Sublime Stitching. The floss has been gathered, the hoop sits next to it waiting.  Plans for holiday projects(all small), knit and otherwise, have already been made, the supplies being steadily acquired so a start can made at the beginning of November. All larger holiday projects are done or already in progress.  Direct, sensible, all within reason.
Then, the pondering of holiday ensembles begins.  I realize that the lovely garnet colored sock weight yarn I have waiting to be made into a snood would go perfectly with the red boots I had been hoping to wear....and wouldn't that pairing look amazing with that bronze rayon/linen top I've been waiting patiently to cast on? Especially with the alpaca/silk cropped cardigan with the art deco rhinestone buttons and a black pencil skirt...
Then that ever so small but insistent voice in the back of my head starts, not only pointing out all the projects already in progress, but that the wardrobe is sorely lacking in cold weather sweaters, that two and a half pairs of wool socks will not get you through the winter and to remember that it will get cold, typically with little warning (even if it's still 80*F outside right now).  Hats and fingerless gloves don't take long.  The striped shawl that's already started would work up fast, (if I read the pattern this go around, knitting on auto-pilot is bad).
I think, that maybe, I must finish all the things. 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

A Friendly Reminder

Especially if you are like me and a total bath stuff junkie who knows the models are air brushed but wants to believe the labels.  Obtain sample sizes first.
In my endeavor to age well, paired with a need for bath products that will work with the fickle (and to me, quite odd) weather out here, I bought a sample set of a new to me face line.  A few red, rashy and oddly dried out patches two days later (it had worked amazingly till then) on my over sensitive skin and I was pleased I had only bought samples.  Admittedly, I was mostly kicking myself for not even thinking about my consistent stand-by until after the episode and allowing myself  to think my skin would somehow react in a positive way.  Luckily, I had some rosehip oil in the cupboard that is helping considerably and an order in with a place that has yet to fail me.  At some point, I  may remember that consistency is better than flash when it comes to the stuff in the beauty aisle.

Monday, October 8, 2012

A little more pink elephant

My lovely daughter adores making jewelry.  She was very enthusiastic when I requested she make me a necklace to go with my pink elephant dress.  It's sparkly! And more pink than I normally wear all year.  I look forward to the excuse to wear it!  She even used findings that match the gold in my wedding ring.  There's been talk from her about beaded martini glasses to affix to the headband I plan to wear, maybe even a matching brooch.  I'm starting to think my daughter may be interested in the 1950's aesthetic...almost as much as I am! ;-)

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

We went for a wander

After bugging our darling daughter for more than a month, the week of her birthday she finally announced what she wanted to do: go to the local botanical gardens and get more jewelery making supplies.  Kept things simple, and her hair was already purple.
Husband had that Friday off so  we voyaged the a whole five minutes to the requested botanical gardens.  We stopped at the lovely little cafe at the gardens to have lunch before we went tromping around outside.  Daughter seemed quite pleased to sit outside, in perfect weather, and eat mushroom brie quiche with birds flitting around, chirping away.
Once we finished lunch we strolled into the gardens proper, applied much sunblock, admiring all sorts of local flora, fauna and art for the next three and a half hours. Which worked up an appetite for the orange creamiscle cupcakes and squashed frogs (cornflake/rice crispy treats dyed green with candy eyes) that were awaiting us at home.
The next day, we drove to Austin and had lunch in a favorite micro-brew.  Feeling quite full, we thought a bit of a walk was in order, so we ended up at Lady bird Johnson's Wildflower Center . A very pleasant place, but it was a warmer than the day before and the bugs were out in force.  We gave up after less than two hours of wandering. After consulting with the birthday girl (who was just as hot and worn out as the rest of us) we agreed to go home and eat more cupcakes.
At some point over those two days, we also let her do a run through a store, steadily putting beads and cord and wire and findings into her shopping basket.  There was also the stop at the costume shop and a comic book store to round out the trip nicely.
The most important part, daughter seemed very content with her birthday!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Pink Elephants

A few days before my daughter's birthday last week ( yes there are pictures and we went neat places, which I will tell you about later) my husband found out about an Oktoberfest type shindig happening locally at the end of October.  He announced we were going. My response, "Fine. I want to get a pink elephant dress to wear".  He then said, "Well then I will wear my kilt". I smiled, said, "Fine, you do that" and then proceeded to buy a dress with pink elephants on it.
I am not typically a girl who likes wearing pink.  I have avoided wearing it for years. I prefer to wear green or black or even blue once in awhile.
But...I have a flask case from my great-grandmother that has a drunken pink elephant sitting in a fancy glass like a burlesque dancer. It's a cherished item that may have given me a weak spot for drunken pink elephants.
Pin Up Girl Clothing very kindly had three different styles to choose from with said intoxicated pachyderm on them and now Husband had given me an excuse to buy one(from one of my favorite shops whose dresses are worth every penny).  The dress got here, quickly and as amazing as promised, but as I've said, I don't really wear pink, what the heck was I going to put with it?  Not more black. The outfit would look monotonous.  Short, pink, lace gloves would play up the style of the dress and add a spot more color. Yarn stash to the rescue! I had two pink yarns in two different gauges with the lace weight being worked into short lacy fingerless mitts and the sock yarn will most likely become a snood. They aren't the same exact shades of pink, so it won't look all matchy matchy, but all three shades are on a bag with a burlesque theme that resides in my pile o' purses.  Win! Throw on some nude, black back-seamed stockings and black kitten heels I think I may have managed an outfit using pink!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

In Anticipation of Sweater Weather

I have a confession.  I gave most of the cold weather tops I've knit to my daughter.  In my defense, they fit her better than they fit me.  I knit quite tightly and in the last year or two have finally figured out how to compensate for it, usually (see below).  On the up side, it means the need to knit myself more sweaters that will likely work better with my wardrobe re-work, frequently using already stashed yarn.  The down side is that it means my list of things to knit has grown by several pages.  It's become a bit daunting.  Occasionally, I will go through the list, weeding out what I think no longer works,  all too often adding a new thing that I think is perfect.
The rust colored sweater above is the Abalone by Hedgehog Fibres knit as part of a Stockinette Zombies knit along using some Cascade 220 I had shoved in a bin.
The green sweater still in progress is Irish Coffee by Baby Cocktails Thea Colman.   Again, using yarn I had in a bin. This time it's Patons Classic Wool.
The hat came about because I decided I should have practical accessories that not only match each other, but the stuff I would be wearing them with as well.  I chose the pattern Lee by Ysolda Teague using the yarn called for.  Gauge gave me a nibble on the behind with this project. The yarn was lighter than I expected, so I used the needle size called for.  This was stupid. With the way I knit, I should have gone up a needle size, so the hat, while gloriously soft and warm as well as being cute on...is also just a touch too small for even my head.  I will probably re-knit it on bigger needles, it was a quick knit the first go around, and give the first one away.
All this work to have clothes for when the season changes...it is so very worth it!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Homemade Marshmallows

A picture  of why I am so happy I taught my children to cook!  Beautiful homemade marshmallows.  Also known as one of the indications my daughter really should become a pastry chef.  She is a magician with sweets.
The marshmallows made outstanding nibbles while my nose was buried in The Hunger Games series. If you haven't read these books, please do.  I personally found them highly enjoyable, (they may have brought out a bit of the fan-girl in me).  The books are fairly quick reads(I read the last one in less than a day), well written, and not strikingly soppy or sugar coated teenage drivel (Husband's comment was that, for the young adult category,  they were a bit dark) .  Just for reference I am also fans of Robin McKinley and  J.K. Rowling.  I started the last in the Parasol Protectorate series today, Husband read it while I finished The Hunger Games trilogy. Ms. Carriger is quite popular around our house.  The first and second Girl Genius novels are also doing a tour of the house, the online comic being much beloved.
There's been an outstanding amount of reading going on lately, even the teenagers are flying through novels left and right.  I figure it must be the weather. Lying under a fan, in the heat of the day, and exerting only enough effort to turn pages has been an ideal way for us to pass the last month.  In my case, it's because I read faster if I am not trying to knit at the same time and yarn sticks to your fingers when it's over 90*F.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Re-do.

At the beginning of May, I was all set.  I had myself all pulled together, down to commercial bath products that actually worked, pants that fit properly and a fantastic hat that looked like a U.F.O had landed on my head.

Cue the beginning of June. I am looking a bit worse for wear. I've found an extra ten pounds, so while the pants still fit, they don't look nearly as well. I haven't re-dyed my hair, so the (still) ashy blonde roots are prominently exposed in my otherwise copper red mane and the frizz that summer weather has caused remains untended. No effort has been made to replace the bath products that had been working so well, which doesn't seem to matter as I have been lax in using them anyway and the state of my skin is testament to that, oily, flaky and breaking out.  Truly a charming image, don't you think?  It's an image I wallow in for June and part of July.  At which point I actually look at myself in a mirror and announce to the empty bathroom, "I really need to do something about this!"

I start exercising as soon as I roll out of bed. Can't seem to stick with it if my brain is fully awake, it argues and makes excuses.
I stop mindlessly eating whatever leftovers I find in the fridge.  I make smoothies and keep containers of mixed nuts (not pre-packaged or seasoned) at hand for snacks.
There is a pillaging of the pantry to make bath items.  The search reveals the necessary components for a face/body lotion, face scrub, sugar scrub and hair oil. Concoctions are stirred and notes taken so I can actually replicate them should they work. I even get fancy and put together an herbed milk bath.

Progress is slow. I am irked at myself for having to re-do all the work from the beginning of the year. I have no deadline nor any solid set of goals to reach.  There is just a desire to be healthy...and to be happy with the way my pants fit.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Scotch Eggs and Why Socks Are Good For Insomnia

About a week ago I gave in to my husband's request and had a go at making scotch eggs . They weren't difficult, just a bit fiddly.  I would have taken pictures, but they disappeared rather rapidly. Everyone in the house has an outrageous fondness for them.
Most of this week has been devoted to functioning on almost no sleep.  For some reason lately, my brain has decided that actual sleep is optional.  This is detrimental to my knitting.  I can push myself through most of my day, but the fine motor skills required to wield my needles suffer.  To the rescue comes the plain vanilla sock!  I have a two gallon bag, the yarn in it weighed and wound, to make pairs of ankle socks.  Mind-numbingly simple, don't even need a pattern, easy to fix if I make a mistake, yet much needed by me type socks.  The kind of knitting I normally avoid during the day as it tends to put me to sleep. 
Today, I am mostly avoiding caffeine (difficult), instead sipping a tisane of lavender, mint and chamomile. There are plans for a  lovely warm bath this evening, then dragging my behind into a freshly made bed, to knit slowly and steadily on my very uncomplicated socks until, thought processes beaten into submission by determined lack of attention and use, I finally manage to sleep.
Wish me luck.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Keeping myself entertained

I've been pretty much left to my own devices this past week, which means I have done quite a lot of knitting(sort of, there's been a lot of ripping and re-knitting) and (for some reason) housecleaning. The tending of my tomato plants (started from seed) has involved far less effort thanks to all the thunderstorms, though I am still waiting for an edible fruit.
 Sadly, I am only halfway through the Dresden novel I am reading and had hoped to finish this week. I am a huge fan of Mr. Butcher's books, so now that the house is all clean maybe I can curl up in a corner, finish my book, and then be upset I finished the series (instead of upset because I spent too much time reading the news).

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Because

Yes, that is a sock that looks a bit like a slice of watermelon.  No, I don't know why I felt the need to buy the supplies and cast it on immediately. I saw the finished pair over at Knitter's Brewing Company , giggled and then couldn't let go of the idea of making a pair.  The yarn colors are bright Summery perfection and the pattern is working up surprisingly fast.  So while it's not a project I would normally pick, I am absolutely delighted I found it!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Summer Stuff

Things started with the summer office get together at a local ranch. There was longhorn cattle, brisket, a hay ride, and the obligatory water balloon toss. It concluded with an outstanding example of a Texas downpour.
Fourth of July brought barbecue and fireworks watched with neighbors, all of us out in front of our houses "ooohing" and "aahhing".
Now, now it's all about avoiding the heat during the day and waiting for my niece to make her entrance, punctuated with the attempt to keep my tomato and sweet pepper plants alive and very unfocused knitting.



Friday, June 15, 2012

I made it through May! Yes, I know it's mid-June.

May was, busy.  There was the trip to Key West, my youngest turned 15, my in-laws came for a visit over Memorial Day, and my husband was gone for about a week thanks to work (ok so it spilled over into June).  There was very little downtime between festivities, (much of said downtime was spent knitting baby items that still need to be sent to my darling sister).  Housekeeping amounted to trying to get the laundry in the general direction of the hamper to be tended to at a later date and randomly picking things up as I stumbled to bed in the evenings.  It was certainly fun, just rather exhausting.

This last week has been a return to what passes for normal around here: laundry caught up, plants tended, floors vacuumed and me thinking I need to cast on every potential project in the house.
The weekend will bring the celebration of our sixteenth (are you as shocked as I am?) wedding anniversary and Father's Day.  Both look to entail grilling tasty bits of food on the barbecue and eating various pastry while watching movies on the couch.  It honestly sounds like bliss.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

A vacation happened

I know it seems odd to announce a vacation "happened", but that is what it felt like. There were so many things going on before we left, many at a frantic (all stressful) pace, that going anywhere seemed downright surreal.  Some of it is still processing in my head.  Yes, it felt that weird to take a vacation.  It was the first time I'd flown in eleven years.  I teared up at the first whiff of sea air the night we got there.  We saw people we hadn't seen in ages.  Awesome sun hats were involved.  I even wore proper day gloves and heels at one point.  I took pictures, though not nearly as many as a good tourist should have.  I think I was too busy revelling in sleeping in and eating a late breakfast outside with roosters pecking round our feet.  Or me with a big grin, hopefully waving at people on the tour buses and boats, usually with little to no response.  I still kept waving.  It was a vacation where I really tried to be polished, elegant and physically coordinated.  Two out of three is good right?  My knee is still healing up from where the pavement demanded blood.  I should probably stick to going barefoot.  Shoes with any sort of heel tend to be dangerous for me to walk in for an extended amount of time, (though I managed to fracture a toe while barefoot so maybe just sitting and knitting is better?).  And I did give in and eat a beloved blue raspberry lollipop, even if blue lips, teeth and tongue look less than elegant. Yum!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Grown Up Summer Clothes

Courtesy of a shindig we are attending in early May, I have been making a fervent attempt at re-working my rather old clothes for mostly housekeeping into an actual wardrobe of clothes I love and am not slightly embarrassed to leave the house in.  This has involved much knitting, some less than stellar sewing on my part (in my defense, pants are more complicated than simple skirts) and the purchasing of some very particular pieces to fill out the rest of it.  
One thing I decided I must absolutely have was a pair of red high heels. Not on everyone's list, I know, but can make a dress pop and jeans look flashy simply by sliding them on.  A bonus is that the pair I bought happen to be exceptionally comfortable as well as affordable! Thank you Payless!  While not the only shoes I purchased for the spring/summer season, they are the only ones that are not black.  All have a slightly vintage vibe to them.
As for the Nuance line from Salma Hayek I've been using, I still love it!  Nothing I've used has caused a negative skin reaction (for once) and the coffee and cocoa butter cream smells like you've smearing a light coating of milk chocolate truffle over yourself as well as improving the texture of the skin.  I will be replacing what I have when it runs out, as it's one of my new favorite things!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

A little help for my friends!

One of my dearest friends is a part owner of a lovely little bean to bar chocolate company called Snake and Butterfly  Now they are really trying to open their very own real world store! Please, head over to Dulce de Leche to read more or just head here, to their Kickstarter page  to help them reach their goal! They make amazing tasty treats and happen to be absolutely wonderful people too!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Bunny Bread and New Bath Stuff

All I could think of as I was forming the bread for Easter was a line out of one of the novels by Sir Terry Pratchett, where random characters shout:"Do deformed rabbit!" My poor bunny bread was not the ideally shaped bread sculpture I had hoped for, but he was tasty and went well with the roast lamb.

The other thing that I have been playing with is bath stuff. I will be the first to admit, I am a bath product junkie. Give me beauty in a jar!  So when a friend of mine pointed out a new line she was trying out and that it was currently on sale, I decided I needed to give Nuance by Salma Hayek a try.  I also happened to be out of night cream and rapidly running out of face cleanser, so it wasn't entirely an impulse purchase.  The radiance renewing night cream is really nice. It does the job, isn't overly greasy and doesn't cause any unpleasant reactions (which is a major thing with me).  Ditto with the black walnut face scrub and body scrub, both which have rather slinky consistencies, more like polishes than scrubs.  In fact, I liked the things that I had bought in the line well enough (her hair anti-frizz stuff is also kind of awesome), that I decided to get a few more things to test this weekend.  Dark cacao and coffee body cream?  Prickly pear body wash? Sign me up!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Birthday Books!

These are the wonderful new books that I got for my birthday this year.  My husband took me to a bookstore, stood there and asked, "Which ones did you want again?"  He knows me so well!  Now to find time to read them.  Most of my time has been consumed with an impromptu re-do of what resides in my closet.  Spurred by an upcoming event, clothes a decade old that scream "I have kids and do lots of housework" have been replaced by items that follow more of a "Morticia meets June Cleaver" theme. There will be pictures, I just have to actually take them.  I am also making several of the items, so that slows the whole process down a bit and with my deadline fast approaching, my lovely new books will just have to wait a wee bit longer.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Not dead, just still unpacking

It's not been a bad move this go around. Having a clue about the process and rolling with what the current situation presents are exceptionally helpful skills.
But...we have a lot of stuff, though less by the day. It takes time to unpack everything. Things have gone missing or are no longer in the condition they were when we started. Things that have to be re-placed for the unpacking to be finished. Our gorgeous four poster bed frame languishes in the garage as it did not fit up the staircase in the new house. Needless to say, there have been a few hurdles.
We did get a new place reasonably fast. A definite positive when you have four people crammed into an economy flat (one actual bed, kitchenette, fold out couch, bathroom in the space of a smaller hotel room).
The weeding out of unused stuff continues, since the new place is smaller than the last and I refuse to let things take over the house. Convincing two teenagers that this purge is worthwhile is a task unto itself.
I've had a rather glorious distraction from boring daily activities though, the plotting and planning of entertaining baby items. A distraction kindly provided by my darling sister who will be making me an Auntie this summer! Why yes, I am absolutely ecstatic! How could you tell?

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

They aren't Resolutions.


They are Deadlines.
There's cleaning house top to bottom, getting everyone ready for the trip and clearing out the rest of the clutter. All have to be done in the next two weeks before the movers get here.
Then there is a get together with friends at the beginning of May that I refuse to rock the frumpy housewife look for. There's the minimum of three outfits that need to be made for the shindig, as well as putting in some effort so my behind does said outfits justice. Luckily, I already have the patterns and fabric, so the sewing can commence as soon as everything is actually unpacked. Making the clothing the easy part of the equation for once.
It really didn't seem like much at first, now the sensation is more akin to trying to jump hurdles while tied to a chair. (While I've never tried it, I imagine it would be a wee bit complicated).
There's a lone bottle of champagne left over from New Year that I think will be used to toast the (hopefully) semi-organized chaos that will be the next 4 months!

Started a new blog

  Oooh Shiny! is now on WordPress.  There isn't much there yet, but I will work on that.