today looked like this...
and we had hopes to ski but we all have colds.
so instead we went bowling and made cupcakes (and brought some to the neighbors) and played mad libs and made paper flowers and made the kids' favorite mac-n-cheese for dinner. and retired the pretty but maudlin music i've had on constant rotation for the past month and popped in some peppy nostalgia.
do i sound desperately upbeat?
my co-worker made this for our school's valentine party today (there was a "robot love" theme). the kids decorated it and i think it's going to live in the library for a while; it's so cute.
because it's valentine's day and john is out-of-town and it's february and i'm bored, i'm stealing an idea from these ladies. let's hear your five favorite love songs. i'll go first...
god only knows/beach boys
maybe i'm amazed/paul mccartney
martha/tom waits
romeo and juliet/dire straits
hallelujah/leonard cohen
o.k. mine are kinda boring. maybe you'll give me some inspiration - my i-pod needs some new blood.
happy valentine's day!
xoxoxo
i never posted all the handmade goodies that came and went this christmas, but here's a few. jen got me the very cool wood relief from karen miller and the guy with the beard is from ashley g (also via jen). his name is serge but he looks a lot like john which i'm guessing wasn't lost on jen when she picked him out.
the cute pig i bought from stephanie a while back. how the hell she makes all those tiny stitches is beyond me. my hands cramp up just looking at them.
happy new year!
thank you for hanging out with me here. i look forward to another year of your bloggy friendship.
xoxo
we just got home from a few days visiting my family in massachusetts which was fun but always makes me happy for my own home, my own town, my own stuff. i'm enjoying the last bits of christmas coziness mixed with a strong desire to get it all the hell out of my sight and not look at it again until next year. you're probably familiar with this feeling. maybe not, what do i know?
i do get ridiculously excited for the fresh start of the new year. even when i look back at my resolutions and see all that i haven't accomplished. it doesn't deter me one bit. i'll just tack the old ones on to some new ones...whatever. it's all good.
christmas was sweet, by the way. even though i had a monster of a cold. i'm happy that neither of our family's go overboard w/the presents or the expectations. it really did seem pretty manageable this year. and while i was incredibly lame in the handmade department this year (i barely made a thing), i did give and recieve lots of wonderful handmade goodies (you know, handmade by others).
o.k., this post is a little boring. just wanted to say hello and hope you are enjoying your holidays.
my nephews and i were all about the japanese game shows on you-tube this week. they make me laugh.
more soon.
xoxo
i hope my kids' memories work the same way mine does. i don't remember specifics as much as generalities, especially when it comes to holidays and traditions. i'm sure my mom didn't bake all 12 different kinds of yummy cookies that i remember every year, and i'm sure there were years where other traditions just didn't come together or were missed or forgotten. i have five siblings, so how the hell they pulled any of it off is a mystery to me.
anyway, i try to remember this on years when we don't get around to taking a carriage ride downtown or get to the nutcracker or whatever it is my kids will hopefully remember fondly as something "we did". this year we haven't done either of those things, but we did make gingerbread (ok, graham cracker) houses together last night which i don't think we've ever done as a family before. it was fun!
wowzers that's a lot of sugar.
happy thursday!
i'm trying not to overdo it with the xmas decorations but i could not resist the lure of the fabric wreath. the fabric buttons i used here i made last spring and i have to say they are a complete and utter bitch to make. unless i am missing something and if so please let me know because i was bummed and swearing a lot when i made them. the wreath, however, is super easy-peasy. grab a foam wreath. cover w/fabric. embellish.
it's been a banner mail week here. first came this pendant from kristen...
i really love it. she also sent me a great old book i'll be chopping up soon.
then, today, i received these from erin...
along with a matching hat! and one of her sweet bird ornaments. she really amazes me. and i'm wearing the fingerless gloves right now as i type because it is pretty freakin' cold today.
i've jumped on the baker's twine bandwagon in a big way this year. my goal is not to buy any new wrapping paper since i've got tons of old stuff - so i'm using twine to make it all pretty...
i made a christmas mix to give out to people who i think might like a christmas mix. here's the playlist, in case you might like to make one and are looking for some i-tunes inspiration (and you don't think my taste in music sucks)...
season's greetings/robbers on high street
i saw three ships/sufjan stevens
holly jolly christmas/the format
have yourself a merry little christmas/judy garland
christmas time is here (vocal version)/vince guaraldi trio
white christmas/bing crosby
silent night/joan osborne
baby, it's cold outside/gabe dixon & leigh nash
i'll be home for christmas/aimee mann
all that i want/the weepies
winter wonderland/perry como
happy xmas (war is over)/maroon 5*
god rest ye merry gentleman/we three kings/barenaked ladies
2000 miles/the pretenders
christmas day/dido
the christmas song/johnny mathis
hey guys! it's christmas time!/sufjan stevens
*i know what you're thinking on this one but i can't track down my cd and itunes wouldn't let me purchase the john lennon version w/out buying the whole album and this version is actually quite nice. you don't have to believe me, but it is.
happy monday!
all sorts of fun stuff going on over here...
we got the tree up. we got the right size this year (we often overshoot and have to chop it up to make it fit in our miniature home). and i think we got it at the right time although it always feels early and it seems like people get them earlier and earlier. or is that just me?
we made cookies. again, seems a little early but they were fun to make and i put most of them in the freezer for later (will-power willing)
got some shopping done. i have to confess that, although i took the handmade pledge, there are a few things the kids really want that i can't find on etsy. but here is some of the handmade goodies they will be getting this year...
awesome plush
good luck charms
rockin' wrist gear
i plan on finishing my shopping for them here on wednesday night. john and jen and the rest of my family and friends are getting lots of handmade stuff but i can't show you here because they sometimes read this.
our show friday night was lots o' fun. thanks to all who came out. we bought a lot of wine and i think it was drank all up, which is a sign of a successful evening, in my book.
john's co-worker sent him this for his birthday. they send you a file of your actual song, but i can't figure out how to share that here. i can assure you, it's pretty funny.
(a little wreath i made yesterday)
a fellow portland blogger (check out her etsy store) recently tagged me for a dream challenge meme. this one was hard - i'm not the dream-big type. and i'm pretty content with my little life, little family, little house, little city, little job, little craft business, little circle of friends. so here's some (little) dreams...
trip to europe (i've never been)
new skills
ski more
visit and host friends and family more
take the kids cross-country
that's about all i can come up with. join in if you want, maybe i'll be inspired.
happy wednesday!
