Another new Monday, another new week...

So last week I actually got off to a great start for this new year.

In the cooking department, I made several delicious offerings:



(photo courtesy of The Pioneer Woman)

*this cauliflower soup from Pioneer Woman, which my four-year-old gobbled up no problem...

*my old favorite stand-by, French onion soup, also gobbled up no problem by the four-year-old (I have yet to tell him that he is the only four-year-old I know that would eat onion soup, especially since I could see many kids pointing out that it looks like worm soup or something like that)...




*a cherry pie...

*and another old stand-by, roast with potatoes, baby carrots, pearl onions, and gravy, all made in the CrockPot.

On that New Year's resolution #8 about wanting to be creative more often, I got a jumpstart on it as well. Nothing like pushing the mundane chores aside for an hour of free time, using up bits and bobs of craft supplies I already had and churning out a finished product. Oh, how the right side of my brain rejoiced.

Speaking of the sides of the brain, I found this little article on the web. If you click on it and look at the "test" they have posted, the one about if you see the dancer going clockwise or counterclockwise, tell me which way you saw it. I always knew I was more right-brained, but gee whiz! I can't even imagine seeing that dancer going any other direction than clockwise, and the article says that most people should be able to see it automatically going counterclockwise. I've tried my hardest and can't see it going that direction at all! I must be severely right-brained.

(Anywho, now that I've probably completely lost you with that segueway, back to the post.)

I decided to jump right in with both feet and pick a tutorial off my long bookmarked list to try.

Up first, the Mama Chic Wrist Cuff, drawn up by the super-talented mama, Jennifer. I've been a long-time blog fan of hers, and this tutorial has been bookmarked on my list ever since she posted it.




Oh my. Could these ever become addicting!

This little beauty was pretty easy to whip up. Once I wrestled a clean ponytail elastic away from Harry, the elastic-snatching-kitty-extraordinaire, I was good to go, as I already have oodles of fabric to pick from, and plenty of batting scraps left over from quilt projects. My machine wasn't too keen on sewing through the layers where the ponytail elastic was, so I ended up having to manually crank the needle up and down at those parts so it wouldn't become jammed. My ponytail elastic ended up sticking out a little farther than I would have liked, but it works nonetheless. I doubled up the buttons because I have a problem committing when it comes to buttons.




This little quilted bracelet is super comfortable to wear, especially right now during the coldest months. (And I do say coldest, as this past week was one of the coldest on record here in Wonderland, resembling Minnesota rather than good ol' Oklahoma.) But I can see how these would be super cute to put on in the spring and the summer when they would show up better on bare arms.

After I made that, I got a wild hair to modify the pattern and try something else. Some close girlfriends and I have (finally) started meeting once a month for Starbucks, and I thought it would be fun (and green, good for the environment, peeps) to make us all coffee cup sleeves. I tried picking out fabrics that would match each girl's tastes, and I put initials on them just to make them a little bit more personalized. I had a ton of leftover heat-resistant batting (like you put in potholders), so I used some of that on the inside.






So last week was a muy productive week. I also started tackling my basement. Once it is clean, it is going to get a fresh coat of paint, some new pillow covers for the daybed down there, and be turned into my "studio" for sewing and crafting. I'm sure my husband is looking forward to getting the dining room back to normal. :)

And last night we made another batch of marshmallows, and wouldn't you know, the last batch turned out the most perfect?! Never fails.



We tried a new "spatula technique" for keeping the fluff from climbing up the beaters and ruining the motor, and it worked really well because the marshmallows were able to get more air in them and rise up higher. This batch is for the new neighbors that moved in next door. We haven't met them yet, but I'm hoping that the gesture of homemade marshmallows will be a guarantee for a great relationship. ;)

Here's hoping this week will be just as productive. I've already planned out my menu for the week (which helps since that is one of the steps I hate the most), and I've already picked out my next online tutorial to try. I'm hoping to keep up the momentum!

See, Mondays aren't so bad...

Things that make you go hmmmm...

I'm all for fashion trends and what have you, really I am, but J. Crew? This is not exactly surprising behavior from you, but in such lean economic times, it seems a bit frivolous to release these...




Here is the description for these pants taken straight from the horse's mouth (J.Crew website):

"To achieve the timeworn charm of those pants you simply can't part with, we garment-dyed and destroyed these chinos for 400 minutes, then carefully repatched and washed them to look like you've worn them for years (and lovingly doctored yourself)."

All for the low-low price of 75 bucks. Pants that have been ripped and pulled and worn and repatched.

I know, I know, we all lusted over jeans that were ripped and torn back in the day, but considering that J. Crew markets their items to the thirtysomething crowd (at least, I'm pretty sure our age bracket is included in their target consumer group), you'd think they'd take into consideration that we are now growing up, having families, actually thinking more about saving and planning ahead and such. Hopefully not thinking about spending 75 bucks on pants that look like they came from the bottom of the pile of clothes that's been sitting on the closet floor.

They must take me for a fool.

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope...

Beautiful, snowy cold day (perfect for wearing favorite cozy outfit):

Zero dollars.






Cute and comfy belt from favorite teeny-bopper chain:

Twelve dollars.






Long-lusted-after boots from Anthropologie:

More than enough dollars.






Realizing (at the end of the day, of course) that favorite outfit is eerily reminiscent of a certain Star Wars character:






Priceless.

Avatar

Not gonna lie. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED it.

I've never been one for space exploration, but I'd gladly climb aboard a spaceship if it would whisk me off to those unbelievably gorgeous glowing gardens.

Finally getting to see this movie was quite the challenge, however.

My mom offered to babysit so the husband and I could go to see it this past week. We went on a weekday, planning on going to the 11am showing at our local IMAX (IMAX 3-D is the only way to go, baby). Me, being the nerdy nerd nerd that I am, made my husband agree to showing up at least 30 minutes early. He is the one to show up 10 minutes after a show starts and walk in, no problem. Me, the nerdy nerd nerd, always wants to get there early, get the perfect seat, and relax knowing I don't have to fight the masses. (And if I knew it wouldn't have been a fight, I would have pushed him to get there more like an hour early.)

Sure enough, we got there and it was SOLD OUT. Say what?!

My husband was furious -- it's not too often we get free babysitting (especially for how long this movie is), and he didn't want to drive back home without seeing a movie. So we bought tickets to the next showing of Sherlock Holmes and saw it instead. It was our other must-see-movie for the holiday break, so it worked out. Good flick, too.

Two days later we tried it all again, thanks in part to my mom for offering to keep the boy again! This time I my husband drove out there the night before and purchased the tickets, just to be on the safe side. We got up early, whisked the boy off to the grandma yet again, and drove out to the theater, this time arriving 45 minutes early.

You can imagine our horror when we pulled up (at 10:15 in the morning, mind you, on a weekday) to see a line of people out the door and around the building. "Run!!!!" I screamed, as my husband leapt out of our moving car and left me to park the car. Seriously, there were probably between 50 and 100 people in the line already. I mean, here we missed out the first time, bought our tickets the night before, arrived crazy early just to be on the safe side, and what??!! I had visions flashing before my eyes of getting in there with our pre-purchased tickets to be seated in the last two spots on the front row, horror of horrors.

Relief washed over our faces when we got inside and saw the line had now reformed in front of the ticket kiosk. Those people hadn't learned the lesson we had learned a few days before. We waltzed in with our tickets already in hand, grabbed the perfect seats, and chatted for a good 45 minutes before the almost 3-hour-long movie started.

But seriously, it was awesome. And this time my husband didn't complain about my nerdy-nerd-nerd-ness one bit.

With my own two hands

Speaking of the long list of tutorials I mentioned in my resolution post, I did tackle one very cool tutorial in December -- raw edged scarves! My girlfriends and I wanted to exchange gifts for Christmas, and I was so excited when I ran across this tutorial.

The scarves are based off of this one from the Gap that was selling for $20 (and currently isn't discounted very much, in my opinion).




20 buckaroos x 4 cute girlfriends (and 1 for myself) = a whole lotta moolah. Since we were shooting for low or no cost on the gifts, this tutorial was the way to go, and honestly, picking out the fabric was more fun than being limited to what the Gap had to offer (sorry, Gap). The homespun fabric is from JoAnn's and was on sale, anywhere between $2 and $5 a yard depending on the print.

I followed the instructions on the tutorial, but I made one small modification. Instead of using 1 yard of fabric, I purchased 1.5 yards for each scarf so that the finished measurements were closer to the Gap version, but it probably wouldn't matter either way. Also, when I washed them and threw them in the dryer (to get the edges nice and fringed), the homespun cotton turned a lot softer and felt more like flannel in the end. A huge thanks goes out to my quilting bee buddy Allison for such a great tutorial! Seriously, all these clever bloggers out there in InternetLand -- how do they come up with such great ideas?!

Here are my girlies modeling their scarves. On two of them you can also see the quirky little flower brooches I sewed up and pinned on each one. I think it's kind of fun to have a little fabric flower to pin on a cardigan or a bag or a coat or whatever, you know, when you need a little extra zest to your outfit!

You'll shoot yer eye out, kid.

So, it's already January, but I absolutely must post a few pics of my "Christmas Story" themed decorating since I almost forgot...

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of my mantel this year. I know, boo on me.

Just picture all the stockings hung with care, a table-top sized leg lamp, the original Red Ryder BB gun (from my dad's childhood, circa 1945 or so) propped up against the mirror, 12 screenshots of pictures from the movie all stuck up on the mirror, and then these lovelies in the built-in bookshelf to the left of the mantel...



The new "Christmas Story" houses from Department 56! Woot! Oh, and it looks like you can barely catch a glimpse of my mantel in that picture. (Click on it to try and see a part of the leg lamp and the movie stillshots stuck up to the mirror.)



Higbee's Department Store with Ralphie peering in the window...



Ralphie's house, complete with leg lamp in the window...



the Chinese restaurant with the "Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra" guys...



and Cleveland Elementary School with the infamous frozen tongue incident...



The only other items I want to add to my Dept. 56 Christmas Story collection are the little figures of the bullies (Scott Farkus, the yellow-eyed bully, and his little sidekick) and Ralphie in the bunny suit, and then the bigger figurine of Ralphie going down the Santa slide. Hopefully I can pick these up on eBay or somewhere for not too much between now and next Christmas. The good thing about this collection is the fact that it can't really grow as there won't be new pieces to add each year, etc., so it is a nice, small, manageable Christmas house collection.

Told you I was quirky...

Looking ahead...

Here is my list of resolutions, which may or may not actually come to fruition. That's my disclaimer.

1. Say yes to less. -- I made that up myself, thankyouverymuch, and I think it needs to be on a t-shirt or tattooed to my forehead, either one. I have the tendency to put way too much on my plate in terms of projects, groups, volunteering, etc, etc., and I've said this before in the past that I would like to stop, but this year, it will stop. It will. If I have to tell you no on something, please know that it goes against every fiber of my being to actually tell someone no and {gasp} risk disappointing them and risk them not liking me (horrible thoughts for a people-pleaser like myself). However, if I end up getting my house and clutter completely under control, get rid of all of the distractions, then I reserve the right to decide whether or not to take on something. So don't hold me to it, I guess. Regardless, I will try to live a more balanced life.

2. Focus on my husband and my son. This is the year of the little family unit. We may be a small family of three, but we are a crazy tight-knit little bunch, and I intend to put even more of my focus this year on those two lovable guys.

3. Finish up unfinished projects. Oh, Lordy, if I am not the queen of unfinished projects. I do not want to be the queen any more. Please take the crown away from me. Please.

4. Throw away, give away, purge, purge, purge! -- By year's end, I am going to be organized and less cluttered. Believe it, sister.

5. Keep up the cooking. 2009 was a great year for me in terms of finally embracing my inner Rachel Ray (who am I kidding, I am not quite to that level), but I hope to try even more new recipes and techniques this coming year.

6. Improve my photography skills. I took the class. I've got the camera (albeit an older version of this one). The new lens should arrive on my doorstep any day now. All of these factors should add up to better photos if I would just stop and practice, practice, practice!

7. No more deadlines, but quilt for fun. Although I have immensely enjoyed the swaps and online quilting bee I've participated in, it's time to finish up projects, and start new ones with no looming deadlines. Quilting is supposed to be fun, but sometimes those deadlines tend to steal my joy, especially since I am well-versed in the art of procrastination.

8. Be CREATIVE more often. Take the time to make something at least once a week, whether it be a tiny project or a big one. I have umpteen bookmarks on my laptop of cool tutorials I have seen, but there are only one or two that I actually attempted last year.

9. No more comparisons. I like you. You like me. I don't wish to care or worry about what anyone thinks of me anymore, or play the comparison game, or keep up with the Joneses or whatever. This year, no comparisons. Period.

10. Buy more handmade, less from the big box money-suckers. Less plastic. More natural. Less toxic. More healthy. Less quantity. More quality. This one encompasses it all -- from food to gifts.

There is a reason there are ten resolutions. Aim high, my friends, and surely I can accomplish at least one of those goals. See? By writing up ten and only looking to accomplish one, I am still keeping things simple, and thus will be even more thrilled if I accomplish more than one. Oh yes, that's how my quirky little mind works.

And since I've done this in the past as well, I am picking a word to represent what I would like to see in 2010. Last year's word was "content" -- and looking back, I do feel like I am moving more and more in that direction. I've thought about this long and hard, and I think my word for 2010 is going to be possibilities (plural since I'd rather have lots of possibilities than just one). I think 2010 is full of possibilities in many different facets of my life, and I'm going to keep my eyes open so when they appear, I will recognize them and take advantage of the opportunities before me.

Happy New Year, my friends!