Merry Christmas!

The whole family is coming over for Christmas dinner tonight, so I'll be posting on that later, But I just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas, and just incase anyone has any last minute gift wrapping you need to do (I do!) here's something to help you out!

'tis the Season....

..For forgiveness.

I'm starting to think that I recommitted to this blogging thing at exactly the wrong time. I'm finding it a bit difficult to blog on a regular basis when I have no internet.

That's right. NO INTERNET!

Some of you may be asking, "how do you survive?"

I'm actually finding it kind of nice. Instead of spending my time on facebook, and watching stupid pointless (*cough* adorable) kitty cat videos, I've been working on my house, doing some crafts here and there, catching up on my reading, and actually making food for myself...even if it's a simple as a breakfast sandwich.

This one's got egg, pepper turkey, and mild cheddar, toasted on rosemary and olive oil bread with a slather of honey mustard. Yum!

So here is an update of my past week..

It snowed... A LOT.

This picture was taken after the first snowfall...since then we've had more than 10 inches, and I'm miserable about it.















However, I have crossed a couple of things off of my "Things to do before Christmas" list.

Invitations to Christmas dinner sent out- Check

These where actually sent out a while ago (when I still had my Thanksgiving nails) Shaped like a house due to the fact that this will be the first Christmas in the Old House in forever..and not very many people have seen it all re-done and being lived in.

Christmas tree up and decorated- Check

Last week I went to pick out Christmas trees with my lovely friend Jen, and her family. I always get a real tree, but this was my first time actually going to the tree farm to pick it out. There where so many to choose from!

I think I picked a good one though. It turned out to be a little tall for my living room. But we got it all cut down to an appropriate size, and Brandon came over to help me decorate it. It's a little bare in a couple of places, but I still have a few ornaments to put on it.

It makes my living room feel so cheery and festive. I love it!

This year I've also been a bit obsessed with sparkly things, glitter and such..so I just got a big pack of super cheap dollar store Christmas bulbs and then added my own sparkle to them. I love the results.

For some of them I glued on little fake diamonds (left) and others I just coated in white and silver glitter (right)

  I want to add on a couple more of the diamond coated ornaments. They look so pretty near the Christmas lights.

Panic..

So I've just realized..it's DECEMBER! Christmas is at the end of the month!
There's so much I still need to do. Christmas is at my house this year, so I still need to send out invitations, and there are A LOT of things that still need to be done on my house. Mostly painting...but a lot of painting.
I'm going to go tomorrow and get my tree, so that'll be one thing down...and the gas guy came and hooked up my kitchen stove for me yesterday, so at least now I have cooking capabilities (even if the rest of my kitchen is still non-existent.) So..let's just hope I can get everything done in time.

On a side note, if I have any extra time, does anyone want to have a cookie exchange with me??

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is such a fun holiday! My family doesn't really do anything for Thanksgiving anymore since some of us live pretty far away, so instead of celebrating with my family, I have dinner with Brandon's family, and a group of their friends. It's always a lot of fun, with tons of good food, and competitive board games.
This year I decided that I wanted to contribute to the meal, but I didn't have a lot of time between work, so I decided to make a very simple (yet delicious) broccoli salad.

Yum! I used this recipe from Jam Hands, which includes broccoli, cheese, onion, dried cranberries, and bacon mixed together in a dressing. Instead of cooking my own bacon (since I don't currently have a stove) I just used Oscar Meyers Real Bacon Bits, and I also added sliced almonds to the mixture. Gotta say, it was a big hit. I didn't come home with any left overs. 

As proof once again that I have too much free time, I also painted my nails for Thanksgiving using a white base coat, and about 6 other colors. I didn't have a toothpick at the time, so I used a hair pin to make the zigzags. I finished it off with a matte top coat, just because I love how the matte makes the colors look.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving too!

Cats are taking over the world..

So I think there's something that needs to be addressed. Over the last year, there are a few trends that have become quite popular, and I think it's time to talk about them. If you know my sense of humor at all, you won't be the least bit surprised at this one...

yep. You guessed it.

Weird cat trends.




The first to appear was the Inbread Cat. This fad is a little confusing, but admittedly a clever pun.

 

 

Next, came the Cat Beard. A little bit funnier, still just as strange.

 

 

 

And that brings us to the most current Weird Cat Trend. Cats in Tights. I have to admit. This one made me laugh...a lot. Like a crazy person.

 

 

 

Seriously, who thinks up these things? Clearly these people have way too much time on their hands, and for that, I thank them.

 

 

City of Brotherly Love

So it's been a few days since I've posted, and here's why... I went on a little mini-vacation with my boyfriend's family to Philadelphia! It was an awesome weekend. We stayed Monday and Tuesday nights with his brother in Binghamton, and while we where there we celebrated his nephew's 1st birthday. (So adorable) Then on Tuesday, we drove into Philadelphia, did some brief sight-seeing to the Liberty Bell, and then went over to the Wells Fargo Center for a Flyers game! It was so much fun. They killed it, by the way. Flyers beat Ottawa 5-2 (yay!) So anyway, it was a very nice getaway (even though we spent a collective 16 hours in the car) Here are some little snippets of the trip.

One Crafty Lady

A while back, a family friend of mine made a gift for me, and I've decided that it is absolutely far too stunning not to share. Now I have to be honest, this woman is the craftiest, most creative lady I know, not to mention, incredibly talented. I've known her my whole life, and even though we're not really related, my brother and I grew up calling her Aunt Kathy.

So, this lovely lady took a completely ordinary box, and turned it into a gorgeous, personalized chest.

On the front, she used a wood burner to carve in my name, birth date, and a phrase that represents my life (look familiar? lol)

Notice all of the floral designs on the bottom and between the text. All of this was done freehand-no stencils, because she's just that amazing. Also note the edges of the box, which she also burned. Don't the little details just make it that much more beautiful?

In order to make it more personal, on one side she carved both of my parents' names and their wedding date, along with my full name. On the other side she put a quote:

"Learn to Love

Learn to be Patient

Learn to be Disciplined

Learn to Forgive,

And to Love Again"

I'm so in love with this gift, and I can't wait to put it in the Old House. I just think it'll look so perfect in that house.