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!!

Weekend, Mitts & Whoopie Pies

Happy Monday! Do you agree, was this weekend too short? Or is it just me? I still have so much to do & no time to do it!

I am now CPR and First Aid certified thanks to an all day course I took on Saturday! If you're choking, I can help!

Our bathroom is almost done - just need a mirror and vanity lights. But, at least it's usable now and we won't have to keep fighting over one toilet! I promise, pictures coming soon!

My living room has felt like a little sweat shop lately with the piles of headbands and flowers all over my coffee table. I did come up with a new organization/presentation method last night. I'll have to snap a photo tonight and show you =D I also made a pair of fingerless mitts this weekend too! It's a really great pattern. The mitts are very form fitting, snug and not bulky at all. I'd definitely recommend it:

Pattern: Firecracker Gloves by Ria Saakshi, can be found on Ravelry here.

It's no wonder why the numbers on my scale continue to go up, and not down. Look at these delicious sweets my father in law brought into work today! He had us taste test them so he would know which to make for Thanksgiving. First thing in the morning no less! I'm not going to lie, they were really really good! If only you could smell the Pumpkin Spiced Whoopie pies through the computer, or taste the Rice Crispy Peanut Butter/ Chocolate bars.

I've been searching the stores and web for Thanksgiving decoration ideas. I found this pattern for an adorable Turkey wreath. Just have to find the time! Do any of you have suggestions on how I can make my house look & feel festive for Thanksgiving? All the stores have seemed to skip Thanksgiving already and have moved on to Xmas.

My Newest Item

Here is my newest addition to my etsy shop! It's called the Hayden Flower Headband and will be available in all sizes from infant to adult. It's totally customizable and comes with interchangeable flowers!

I've been making a bunch of these in different sizes & colors for the Xmas boutique.

ps. thanks Alhana & Nicole for letting me know the picture wasn't working. It's fixed now! =D

Skipping Around Like a Little Girl

No school today! Why? Who knows, but me likey!

My mailbox was stuffed full with not one, not two, but 3 packages today!!! Let me share my new treasures with you.

Box #1: Halloween Headband & Candy swap:

Contains a purple cabled headband, Skittles & Starbursts!

Box #2 Scarves I ordered from Pretty Panda!

She is such an amazing etsy seller with such a great product. One of the scarves matched perfectly with what I was wearing, so of course I wore it to dinner tonight! The other one is a grey/black combo. And wrapped up in them were fun treasures! A pair of earrings and a pink flower hair pin.

Look how cutely wrapped they each came!

Box #3 Fingerless Mitts Swap Package/kit

Package contained: 2 skeins of yarn, crochet hook, pattern from my Rav queue, candle tealights, gorgeous stitch markers, makeup pouch (looks like she may have sewn it), shawl pin, lip gloss, cabled wristlet, magnets, post-its, and of course the pretty purple mitts!

I also forgot to mention that I received my Sassy Glasses monogrammed wine glass on Saturday. It was the one I had won from a giveaway. It's so cute - can't wait to use it!

Ok, time to watch Heroes! Have a great night my fellow bloggers =D

Handmade Holiday Pledge!

Frenchie & Flea are hosting their first annual Handmade Holiday Pledge 2009! Over the next 2 weeks they will be featuring 12 etsy sellers (including myself!) and hosting daily giveaways & discounts. If you haven't check them out yet - now is the time. All the fun starts today!

I've taken the pledge & have already started buying my presents for Xmas. I know, I know, It's not even Thanksgiving yet. But there something about that week before Xmas where instead of frantically shopping, you know all your gifts are purchased, wrapped and ready to go! For me, that stress free feeling is worth planning ahead.

Here's what I found so far!

For both my mom and mother-in-law (both big 'winos') I ordered this beautiful hand painted wine glass which will probably be paired with their favorite bottle of wine.

For my father-in-law who loves his bulldog to the point of buying postage stamps with her picture on them, I found this shirt.

I'm pretty sure Santa will bring Izzie a new collar. Maybe one like this:

And Misty kitty too of course!

How about you? Are you going handmade this holiday season?

Just a Quickie

Things have been kind of crazy here lately! We've been working on redoing our guest bathroom in time for Thanksgiving. Did I mention that we're hosting it this year for the first time? There will be about 20 people, ack! Last night we picked out the paint and tile to match our vanity. It's so exciting to have it all come together! We're hoping to have it done soon.. keep an eye out for pictures!

Last night I had a brilliant idea (at least I thought so) for a new headband with interchangeable color flowers. Super simple, cute, and versatile! Can't wait to take pictures this weekend and post it on the store soon! Speaking of the store... It's undergoing quite the makeover thanks to Frenchie & Flea. I've already updated my banner and pictures that they took. Now I'm going through the rest of my items for photo, watermark, title, and description updates. You can see the progress so far here. Aren't the pictures they took cute?

I'm really trying to build up my inventory over the next month. In December my church has an annual women's tea and they asked that I set up a booth to sell my items, and donate a portion of the sales to women's ministries. The theme is "Accessorize Yourself."Any ideas or suggestions for other things I can make?

Here's a quick pic of Brandon's Xmas socks. They're coming along. Slowly, but surely. I can only work on them a little bit at a time. The needles and yarn are both so small that after a while my eyes start to go cross! I'm loving the tweed yarn! Hope I can get them done in time without getting the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome I've read about. =P

I also finished another couple of swap hats:

Have a great weekend!!

PS giveaway winners: Keep an eye on your mailbox =D

What A Day!

Today I sat in a government building for almost 3 hours waiting to be seen for my citizenship interview. Then, the actual appointment only took a whole 5 minutes! Phew - exhausting, but I'm glad that's over!

My crafting has taken a backseat to life lately. Hopefully I'll have more to post about soon. Until then, here are some photos from Halloween:

(A beer wench, Kim Kardashian, and Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly)

Brandon was a Mariachi man, or the guy who sings "Happy Birthday" at our favorite Mexican restaurant - take your pick

An overview of Izzie's pumpkin costume

Doesn't she look so enthused?

Happy Monday!