Recent Projects

Just another quick post to show you a few recent projects for custom orders.

I just love the teal color on this cowl!

Green "grass" winter knit slouch

Hope everyone is able to stay stress free as the Christmas "crunch time" is upon us!

Rose Earl Grey Slippers

Just a quick post to share a recent project of mine. These are going in a slipper swap package. Hope the recipient likes them!

Also, I just need to mention a recent frustration and hopefully someone has a bit of advice to give. Our dog, Izzie has been potty trained for months now. She goes in and out of her doggie door as she pleases. Lately, it's been cold (relatively speaking of course, we're in southern California for goodness sakes!). Being the princess that she is, instead of going outside, she goes potty inside, right in front of the dog door. She does this at night while were sleeping and she doesn't wake us up. It's a lovely thing to wake up to in the morning, that's for sure! What can we do? She's fine during the day while were at work because the sun is out and its warmer. At night is a whole other story. Any suggestions?

My last final is tonight, and then I have another dance performance tomorrow night (I won't even mention how horrible the first one went last night). Then I should have more time to catch up on my "to-do" list. Hope you all are having a great week!

Success!

First of all, I'd like to apologize to my readers for my lack of posts. Things have been crazy busy lately! As of this morning, I hit 40 sales on my shop! How awesome is that?! Most are made to order hats so my fingers have been busy crocheting away! =)

Tonight was the annual women's Christmas tea at my church. This years theme was "Accessorize yourself" and they asked me to set up a booth to sell my items. A portion of my sales were donated to the women's ministries. It was a hit! My booth was so successful - I'm so happy!

I also have to include a pic of this adorable child's "Hello Kitty" hat I made this morning. It was the first thing to sell! Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got of it, although I'm sure I'll be making more.

Tomorrow I have the day off! =D I'll be helping in my mother's classroom with their Christmas craft! Have a great night all!

Random Goodies

Check out these AMAZING knit socks/slippers!! I got them in the mail yesterday in a fantastic slipper swap package from the UK. I'll post about all the other fun goodies later, how how awesome are these socks?!? I've never worn a pair of hand knit socks before, these have little leather soles on the bottom. How beautiful are these cables?? You bet I was dancing around the house in them! (PS. its not easy taking pictures of your own feet.)

I never thought I'd be one to dress my dog up... but how cute is Izzie in her new Christmas sweater?? It's got a hood with fur and a little kangaroo pocket on the back with white snowflakes.

I am loving the weather lately. It rained yesterday and it's actually cold enough today to wear knitted goodies! The entire front lawn this morning was frosted over as was my car. Love it.

Oh Bring Us a Figgy Puddin' Hat

This was a Wendy Winter Beret for a custom order in the color of Fig =D

One of my customers who purchased a Bella Swan hat is an amazing ceramicist. I've already added a few of her pieces to my Xmas wish list. She sent me this photo of how she embellished her Bella hat with some ceramic buttons! How neat is that??

Over the weekend I went to this store called Dream Dinners as suggested by my friend Lani. It was such a neat experience, I have to share it with you all! So, I arrive at the store and they have a little drawer with my name on it with my planned menu (items I chose online) and an apron for me to wear. They had a shelf in the freezer with my name on it too so that as I prepared my meals I could store them there. Everyone was super friendly and they brought me tea, a bagel, and appetizers! As I enjoyed my yummy snacks I was able to prepare some quick meals to eat throughout the month. All the ingredients were fresh and already chopped, peeled, diced etc. All I had to do was follow the recipe and put the meals in ziploc freezer bags and/or aluminum cooking trays. Each prepared meal came with cooking instructions and the prepared date along with the suggested shelf time. Everything is portioned and the nutrition facts are given for each meal, how easy is that?! When I got home I just had to freeze it all and they're ready to go for quick meals during the week! It was great because I didn't have to worry about finding recipes or forgetting an ingredient. The best part? Not having to clean up my mess! The first Dream Dinner we ate was the bruschetta chicken skewers- yum. This morning we made the breakfast bread pudding! A 9x9 tray is supposed to be 3 servings, but there was so much of it, it will feed us for a few days! It was delicious, especially for a low calorie bread pudding!

Tonight we are having the cheese ravioli with chicken and a creamy pesto sauce.

New Projects

Finished 2 more projects for custom orders:

Lady Gaga Hooded Cowl

And a Flower Power Scarf

Must I really go back to work tomorrow? I could use another day!

Bathroom Before

I was going through some photos today and found these before pictures of our bathroom, the one we just re-did. These should help show you what a HUGE transformation it was:

In case you missed it, here's a link to the after photos.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Why I love My Work

This week we celebrated one of my co workers 25th year with the company. When it's time for a party, we have the best luncheons! My father in law and my husband have both been to culinary school and take the lead on the lunch planning and cooking. With the help of a few others, they cook the most amazing meals!

The chefs

They spent all morning chopping and prepping the meal. The whole office smelled amazing!

Especially from this chipotle cranberry sauce for the meat. The aroma of garlic, onion, cranberries and spices tickled my nose as I tried really hard to focus on working.

Guys at the grill. Those of you back East, how do you feel about us barbecuing outside in tee shirts in December?

Elias and the tri tip.

Amazing vegetable and fruit salads

Chef Jeff in the lunchroom kitchen

mmmmm delicious

Everyone enjoying the meal!

Travelling Scarves

More scarves have arrived, and two more are on their way to Kentucky! Here are the one's I've added to and are going in the mail today. Aren't they great? I can't wait to see what mine looks like =D

I think we might be getting our Christmas tree today!!! =D

I love getting the mail!

Especially when there are fun packages inside!!

This lovely hat swap package came all the way from Portugal. I'm drinking the mint tea right now, yum! Aren't the colors great? Love the fun flowers on the side.

I also got this adorable iphone case that I won in a giveaway. It's got the most divine lining inside & a convenient pocked on the outside. And who can resist loving the adorable birdie pattern? Not me! You can see her shop here.

In addition to all those goodies, I received the most recent edition of Crochet Today (Jan/Feb) which has some really cute winter & Valentine's day projects. I ALSO got a free sample of a chai tea mix. It's like Christmas already! Can't you see why I love getting the mail?

Bella, Bella, Bella!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I know I enjoyed the extra long weekend that went with it & was able to get caught up on a lot of unfinished things.

My Bella Swan hat has been featured in an Etsy Treasury!! You can check it out here. Very exciting!! Tomorrow I will be mailing out 5.... yes, 5 of them!! I've also got a few special orders in the works. <3

Last night I saw the movie Julie & Julia. Loved it! It has totally inspired me & now I really want to cook some French cuisine - yum! If you haven't seen the movie yet, I highly recommend it.

I originally had tomorrow off of work too, but my boss called me today and asked if I could come in. Of course, I'm a sucker and said yes. Now the rest of my evening will be spent prepping for my pharmacology midterm since I was counting on doing that tomorrow =(

Have a great night all!

Bathroom Unveiling

Here's our (almost)completed bathroom redo! All we need now is some artwork to hang above the ''throne". It was so nice to have it completed for Thanksgiving!

Speaking of Thanksgiving, it went really well! 17 people sounded like a lot on paper, but felt like even more once everyone arrived. Great food & fun was had by all, and no one left hungry! We served turkey, duck & prime rib along with various side dishes. The meal was completed with delicious homemade pecan pies and pumpkin spice whoopie pies! Leftovers anyone?

Our Little Pug's an Attack Dog?

My husband and I were out on our patio, enjoying the warm & windy night when a couple of little birds started flying around us. It kind of freaked us out because they were flying really low and close to our heads, so we headed for the grass area. They seemed to be attracted to the lights on our patio cover, maybe they had a nest there? One flew away, but the other one stayed. It ran into our slider a couple times and then took a breather on the ledge. Izzie was very attentive and followed every move the bird made. Meanwhile our cat Misty (who used to be quite the huntress in her day) just watched from inside.

At this point it was just funny because there was no way that Izzie could ever reach a flying bird. Until the bird went full force into the slider and became disoriented causing it to hit the ground. In an instant the fun and games turned into a very traumatic experience. It was all a whirlwind of screams and shouts as I covered my eyes and turned away. I'll spare you the details...

Brandon insists that the bird flew away. I'm really going to try to believe him since I got inside as soon as I could! I can't help but feel bad for the poor, dumb bird. =(

A Few Checks on My "To-Do" List

I've been running all over town this morning getting some last minute shopping done. I can now check off: grocery shopping, install new chandelier (pictured below), install vanity lights and mirror, and find linens and table settings for Thanksgiving. Here's a sneak peak at what my table set up will look like this year (minus the food). We're going to have 2 tables set up like this:

As much as I wanted to make it fancy and use our fine china, we still only have 4 complete settings. Instead, we will be using the plastic chinett dishes, which are sturdy enough to wash and reuse again. Plates, napkins, & table cloths are from the party store, and the table runner is from Home Goods. I couldn't find a nice fabric table cloth that matched so I just went with a simple white disposable one. Figured, were messy eaters and throwing it away afterwards is easier. The silverware is part of our fine china set, at least we have 8 of those sets (the other table will use our daily cutlery set). The centerpiece has a pumpkin spice candle and the pine cones smell like cinnamon. yum! I will also have some tall candlesticks on the table, I just have to find my holders!

TGIF!

Thank you all for the nice "congratulations" on my last post. To answer your questions, I was born in Montreal, Canada and moved to California when I was really young - about 4 years old. While I was technically a Canadian, I've always really considered myself an American since I grew up here. Now I have the paperwork to back it up & I can vote in the next election! We still have a lot of family in Montreal and go back as often as we can for visits. The US does not recognize dual citizenship, once your American - you're only American! However, as long as I don't renounce my Canadian citizenship in writing, Canada will recognize both.

I have sold 2 Bella Swan Twilight hats in the past 24 hours! *Happy dance* I think there's some Twilight fever going around with the movie coming out. Has anyone seen it yet, or planning to see it? I know I will! =D

Newest shop item, Sunburst Slouch:

I love the rusty-orange color.

Weekend plans include:

Watching the dance show at school

Write a report on it

Hanging our new chandelier

Putting up new vanity lights & mirror in hall bathroom

Meet with group for Pharmacology project

Hair party at Lani's!

Homework

Tidying/deep clean the house

Finalizing Thanksgiving menu

Grocery shopping

Thanksgiving potluck at church

Happy Friday all!

Officially a citizen!!

Yesterday my mom and I completed the last step in our citizenship process. We attended an oath ceremony so that we could get sworn in. There were thousands of people there! It was really a big deal. Here are some photos. Cheesy? Absolutely!

Beforehand, with our green cards. It felt so weird to give those up after many years.

At the ceremony, Brandon made me pose for a photo op with the little flags they gave us =D

Afterwards with our certificates!

I look forward to voting for the first time!!