Spring! Has! Sprungggg!

–I am excited. It’s good news though with all the very-s I might have hyped it up too much? Nawww.

My car read a high of Sixty Seven Degrees today. I am so excited.

This? Oh it’s nothing special! Psh. The sun is now not setting at five o’clock but rather six ish & once daylight savings comes( this Sunday) it will be setting around seven (killer!)  & it will so inch its way to nine thirty for the Summah.

Cross your fingers that no more yucky nasty disgusting terrible awful horrid snow storms come until next winter. Shoo shoo Old Man Winter.

<3

Insert: Cooing sounds & Bragging rights

He’s such a good baby. Almost perfect really. –I know that every mother (or even in this case Aunt) would say that that child is (of course) perfect. I get it. But!Seriously he is. Almost.

I picked him up & even from minute one we were a go. We giggled in the car. I would coo his name & whip my head around to catch his eyes in the backseat & oh if you could hear his laugh. Sidetrack: His laugh is the best. Hands down. He takes it over the top. Every. Single. Time. Which is what makes it so gold. He will literally draw every bit of oxygen out of his lungs to complete a laugh. :End Sidetrack. We had so much fun in the car that I knew we’d hit it off. We played & played. He is still in the beginning stages of walking but what I like to do is encourage him to come to me while he walks and when he gets just about there I come at him roaring (and making other indescribable baby-ing sounds. Embarrassing in front of anyone other than him? Yes.) and he gets so excited that he begins walking but quickly begins crawling like a true machine. It was awesome. He had begun to mock the roar and would occasionally turn back to see if I was still coming. That little ham. Ahhh I see the joys in parenting.

I also saw the downside. I could not get him to go to bed until three am & even so something woke him up at five forty am. Killer. Mother instinct kicked in and at the shear sound of a whimper I was up. I attempted to figure out what caused the excessive fussyness since he would not just go back to sleep. Ahh sleep. I took off his very warm pajamas, changed his diaper, offered him his bottle and it as strike one, strike two, and strike three. I did think I was out. Honestly. I envisioned the future of me being very tired and cranky. I rocked him for forty minutes before his eyelashes had stopped occasionally batting and laying him down in his crib without a fuss was a success. He slept until one pm. That made me a proud momma (so to speak) and I was so delighted that I got to get back to bed & he would be well rested when he awoke. I got up at ten thirty am (not knowing but hearing the horrifying stories about mothers getting not even a second to do a load of laundry or the inability of swiping on a layer of lipstick) to get ready (at least. bare minimum.) and try to do some cleaning while he was sleeping. Piece of cake. I managed to get ready, mop the floors, clean the bathroom & kitchen, dust and straighten up the living room and get his breakfast and clothes ready before I even thought about getting him up. Phew. Did I earn my badge in mothering boot camp yet?

We ran our errands after he enjoyed his nanas and applesauce and I almost loved the looks I was getting in my everyday routine with familiar strangers. This guy at the bank who I believe has a crush on me was so intrigued that despite him not waiting on me he had to get on the action. Asking if he was mine, how old, how cute, that I was too young to be a mother, etc. I thought it was kind of funny. & I’ve noticed older people just love babies. Most of them could the be grandparents of the world if you let them. Don’t you agree?

Anyways, for being such a good baby for the entire time I had him and giving my arm such a workout I decided to get him ice cream and take him home. Oh if you saw this baby and his ice cream. I’ll capture it sometime.

Blah Blah Blah

I’ve got a temporary baby envy high/fever at the moment so excuse all that babbling. I’ll sum it up with this:

Taking an extended vacation from this blog only makes it harder to jump back in as with most things in life. Excercise, hobby/clubs, work, life, etc. Haw Haw. Haw.

Anyway! Amis the snow that keeps coming & coming & coming I’ve managed to still go to my favorite thrift store these past few days to find these treasures:

Vintage sheets! I am seriously considering learning how to make a quilt and I love these bright florals. They’re darling unlike the latest floral patterns found at your xyz department store walmart-kmart. You know the ones. They’re the rose/ivy flowered mauve, hunter green, and cream-colored comforters. There isn’t anything comforting about those. Nada scrada. My agenda for these is definitely going to be quilt shapes and bunting pennants!

I am still looking for ornaments. Always & Forever baby! Who says I could ever have enough? Hush. –These are from West Germany & distributed by Montgomery Ward. The quality of the paint job isn’t as skilled as I’d like but from afar and for a dollar I cannot complain too much. I’ll definitely have to change out the ornament clasps that hold the hooks. Those are so gaudy that they’re making me gag. Not really but they’re flashy and the cheapness of the metal and detail work remind me of something you’d get out of the gum ball machines or cracker jack boxes.

Captured this sunset last Sunday. It was pink & totally reminded me it was perfect for Valentine’s day! Speaking of, I hope you all had a great Mushy/Gushy/Puke/Love/Oxox Day!

I know I said I was going to try & check in more often awhile ago & haven’t been so successful as of yet but I am going to work on it. Seriously. Now that the holidays have passed, decorations are packed, and social events have died down I think I can do it. At least more regularly than I have been. New year’s resolution? Maybe. However I don’t particularly make them. Why? I don’t see the point. At any moment I can make my own goals and I shouldn’t prolong them until the first of the year. Especially when the first of the year around here screams “Cabin Fever” and who could possibly be bothered to do anything but get sunlight, see a fresh new face/space and wish for Spring? I think the beginning of Spring should be time for resolutions if you’re going to make them. Especially when they pertain to the most common: get organized/excercise. Spring cleaning? Good weather? Ahh. Silly me.

Anyone get anything absolutely grand, great, superb, surprising, majestic for Christmas? I got a couple of things I asked for and a couple of surprises. –My grandma forces every one of her grandchildren (all nine of us) to make a list consisting of things that total no more than fifty dollars. Not so easy. I hate to sound greedy but there is so much I want that I can never decide if it’s one thing or several small things that make my list. My route this year? Several small things. 95% of them from etsy.

This was my splurge. This took over more than half of my alloted budget but it was worth it. I cannot tell you how long I’ve been looking and/or wanting a perpetual calendar. A cute one.

I got five of these tags.

Had to have these! Yes, they’re plastic. The colors? Hard to resist. Things of this nature make me wish for open shelving/glass cabinets in my kitchen.

& Lastly, this beast! I have a similar canister. I believe they were originally grease jars? Correction? I have another one of these with forks/spoons/knives that I happened to get about six months ago at the thrift store. Although a collection of these displayed would be nice, I am specifically thinking of using this between Memorial day & Labor day. Probably on my desk.

Be jealous.

What else? Well since you asked! I got this:

&

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Fitness stuff. I asked for wii active but was surprised to get wii active more workouts & your shape. Although truth be told, I hinted at wanting to buy your shape after seeing a slew of commercials this past month. I was ecstatic to be receiving all three. Last night I played wii active for the first time and am not sure if I like it more/less or the same as wii fit. I’ve only played it once so the jury is still out. I do think that wii active is better in the running portion of the game. At least in tracking it & I do like that it uses resistance bands too. After using it just once and upon waking up this morning I felt achey. Sore in a completely good way. I was surprised and happy with that. Since owning wii fit (I got the wii & wii fit for my birthday last July) I haven’t really felt sore. ever. I am looking out for ab exercises on this new game. None to be found. Just yet. &! As for your shape? I can’t wait to try it. Controller free? Correct my form? I am down! It’s on my agenda for the coming week.

I also happened to get a pair of silver/cream-y moccasins, the “wake up” kit from pixi makeup, super mario brothers (are you laughing?), a new singer sewing machine (thanks, Dad!), dexter season 3, and craft store gift cards. I guess you can say I made out like a bandit. Now for those of you who happened to get new 63″ televisions, macbooks, a new benz, or treasure chests of jewelry? Adopt me? –Haw Hah haw! I am kidding but I wouldn’t be lying if I said I am only slightly envious. Who wouldn’t be?

Enough of my bragging or talk of absence but speaking of, I am going to get back to work.

P.S. I got an owl lamp & these vintage sears children’s bedroom/nursery/playroom curtains last week & I hope to share them soon. Tomorrow? I’ll try!

<3

FIRST BIRFDAY!

Happy Birthday, Korey! +Love you baby! xoxo

I like it. This is my first year with a white tree. Since I moved out (My first Christmas alone was when I was just 19!) I’ve always used a hand-me-down 7ft artificial tree. The kind that is not prelit & you have to put it together branch by color coded branch. Fluff & fluff and frown at its Charlie Brown appearance. Well! No! More! I bought this tree two days before Thanksgiving & found an aluminum tree this past summer. –Aluminum tree & white tree are both going up next year. Excited about that. Nevermind that won’t be for eleven more months.

&! A lot of thrift stores were doing 1/2half off sales on Christmas donated goods last weekend. So guess what? I went to multiple shops and this was my haul from one Friday:

I was excited! As you can imagine. I found three boxes of pink ornaments. I was just thinking about breaking down and buying some from someone on etsy. Didn’t find enough hot pink ones this year so I might be buying from etsy next year afterall.

I also started packing away the extras.
This is my box of stencil/indents/stripes:

All of these ornaments have got me ready & dreaming of next Christmas.

Work until Thursday! If I don’t check back in before the Holiday, Merry Christmas!

<3

Remember how I told you all how my white tree looks washed out? Well, I want you to see it for yourself.

I know that’s kind of an ugly shot. Top shot only. I know that didn’t help but…now you see. I was referred to another blogger’s white tree (check Mandi’s suggestion in the comments of the previous post) and it is very pretty but what I can gather is that she has taken pictures during the day. Natural light. No actual lights on her tree are visible either. So, I still need your H e l p!

 Look at me, begging! C’mon.

Anyway

I am digging these ornaments. I got about thirteen or so about a month ago on ebay. <3 Yes, ebay. I am normally not one to purchase that sort of thing on ebay but I’ve never ran across anything remotely similar thrifting. They came in red, magenta, teal, gold, silver, and green.

Speaking of ornaments/bobbles/bulbs!

I have still have enough for trees & my latest craft-y endeavor:

I actually went out and treated myself to a new craft gun. Of course it had to be Martha Stewart. I only got it because my junky dollar store one did not have an off/on switch or a high/low temperature option. It kind of just sat there spewing glue between uses and got the yank when I was finished. So? Duh! I had to have a new one.

You see where I am going with this? Yes. Why haven’t I completed more than this? I am having a very, very hard time committing to using glue and thus forever surrendering my ornaments to this wreath. That isn’t all a bad thing. I admit that I probably wouldn’t disassemble it anyway but the what ifs make me hesitant. I’ve seen that you can allegedly “bead” them together on heavy gauged wire. I am not really fond of that idea. –I’ll be experimenting this weekend with other ideas on how to make a wreath without ruining my gold. Got any suggestions? Lay ‘em on me.

I found this mercury beaded garland at a local thrift store a few weeks ago. Three dollars for at least 5 strands. -I am not sure I will put it on my main Christmas tree mostly because I do not like garland on big trees. Not typically. I am sure someone has done it & I could maybe like it. That day has yet to come. I have plans for my feather tree though. Easy to drape and the branches aren’t so clustered to make it look droopy and gaudy. Know what I mean? Probably not. What do I know? Nada.

TWO more things!

Horray for chunky & brightly colored scarfs! I am actually making an effort to wear mine this year. It adds spirit to my rather drab gray coat. Who am I kidding? Gray is my favorite color.

\

I found this repro bottlebrush wreath at Big Lots last week & I really liked it but could not bring myself to spend ten dollars on it. I mean it is Big Lots. They’re suppose to have deals, right? Hopefully I can snag it for five after season. Also peeking out in the photograph are red bottle brush candy canes. Maybe that’s more your speed? Hey, if you’re money bags ($$$), buy! buy! buy!

Until next time,

Stay warm & drink a gingerbread chai for me.

Still tying knots with filament but the tree is not bare. I only get time to do that sort of thing on the weekend.

See! It’s getting there.

Anyone have tips on getting a decent photograph of a white Christmas tree? Seriously. It always looks so washed out on camera (it probably doesn’t help that I use my camera phone) but oh! gorgeous! in person. Help

P.S. I had plenty more to share with you all BUT my pictures won’t upload at the current moment. I’ll try again tomorrow!

<3

Anyway! I am back. To click & clack out another post. Eeee!

Last week was a busy week. Even though I worked all day Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I was dreaming of things I could make for the holiday. I found several recipes and although I did make five things! FIVE! 5! (& I wasn’t even hosting the party. Yes, I am brushing my shoulders off as we speak.) I dreamt of several others but just didn’t get the time.

I made:

1. Jalapeno cornbread

2. Pumpkin roll (not pictured) –I had to make two. Let me tell you about that. I was up until five in the morning. Birds were chirping & the sun was screaming at me. Okay, the later is not true but my brain was very fuzzy and annoyed that I was even up let alone bothering to make food. So! I was up and made a pumpkin roll. Inpatient because I was sleepy cranky I went ahead and unrolled the first cake much too quickly. It cracked & cracked & made many of canyons before I decided it looked awful like shit and to save my dignity, I made up another. This one went fine & I popped it into the refrigerator quicker than the morning bird could catch the worm. Trust me, it looked good. As good as pumpkin rolls can.

3.(fake) Sausage, apple, and sage dressing.

Beginning Process

+

End Result

4. Pumpkin cheesecake.

I stomped my mixture of graham crackers & gingersnap cookies (the gingersnaps were my idea. thanks.) to bits & pieces. Read: I really, really need a food processor. A.S.A.P.

I used part neufchatel & real cream cheese in the mix. That way it wasn’t as fatty & you’re still left with all the taste of new york style cheesecake.

5.(fake) Bacon maple bread.

Used another morningstar product. My favorite fake meat brand. Anyone else upset about their discontinuation of the corn dogs?

Getting ready to bring home the bacon! Sizzle!

+

Prebake! Looks like vomit. Tastes great!

All of them turned out great except the first go with the pumpkin roll. Which is kind of silly because that was the one thing I’ve ever made before. Everything else I winged and crossed fingers for decent results. –My uncle even asked for the bacon maple bread recipe & a friend of a friend loved the dressing. I scoff at this because both people would probably not have tried fake (although delicious) meat products otherwise. You know how those hillbilly types can be. Har Har Har

Also! I failed to mention this before all of my enticing food pictures but! I apologize for no finished result photos. I was too busy running to bed, waking & rushing, stuffing & conversing to do that. Forgive me.

What else? What else!

Black Friday. Yeah, I went out. Shopped. At 4pm. Found two dresses & a bra.

Check it!

Found this black dress. I really liked it on the clearance rack. Obvious reasons. Tried it on & looked like I was in the beginning stages of pregnancy. Back to the rack it went.

&

I found this on the more expensive end of the clearance rack but liked its look & liked it well enough to buy it. It just needs tights, flats, and a simple black blazer. We’re in business!

On the way out, we got starbucks! Typically I won’t buy it because it’s too much $$$ for what it is but I recently had it & wanted more more, more, more, and more. I got my usual chai tea with gingerbread. Yum!

After shopping at a few other stores & with little success for burried black Friday madness goodies, headed home. Dug out my recently purchased white christmas tree(!) & vintage ornaments(!) and got an early start on cleaning and rearranging for this tree.

The Mrs. Meyer’s pine scent for the season is heavenly. I love it. I have big plans to head back and get another bottle of the spray & dish liquid or hand soap. Can’t decide which between those two. If you’re cleaning & decorating this stuff will put you in a much more festive mood. Buy it!

I have boxes of ornaments & I still feel like I don’t have enough. I’ve been searching thrift stores more religously lately looking for ornaments but as we all know when you’re looking for something that’s when it isn’t to be found. +Definitely keeping my eyes open for the rest of the year for more.

Where do you guys think I should put this little pixie/elf? In a wreath? On the tree? Sitting amongst other decorations?

It’s one of the few ornaments I have that isn’t an actual bulb. I am not one for wooden/plastic/fabric ornaments. Usually. Ain’t my thang, mang!

The electricty went out for several hours the other day (which means I lost hours of time to do what I do best) & so the tree remains in progress. I am also removing all hooks and replacing them with monofilament. It’s somewhat of a chore seeing how the monofilament needs double knotting or it unravels itself. +All I need now is a tree skirt, more ornaments, and time! Some stockings would be nice too.

Until next time! I’ll quit making run-on sentences and thoughts & hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Life. Yes! I’ve been busy working. eating. breathing. cleaning. baking. reading. living! and even trying! really, really trying to craft.

Don’t believe me? See!

Washed My Car

Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies

Reading Magazines

Eating Fantastique! Pizza Pizza Pizza

Enjoying The Last Signs Of Autumn. Especially That Ceramic Pumpkin

Adjusting To The Sun Now Setting At 5

Crafting My Thanksgiving/Post Halloween Autumn Decorations

Crafting, eating, baking, living, breathing, enjoying, etc! It’s all been so nice & I am looking forward to Thanksgiving (even if I might not have these Thanksgiving/Autumn crafts finished) because I am very much dreaming of all things white, twinkling Christmas lights, vintage bulbs, glass glass glass, Christmas trees, and decorating for Christmas. Period

I’ll be back suckahz! Hopefully sooner than two+ weeks!