almost 2007...

i hope everybody had a great christmas- mine was nice. joe had a few days off for the holidays- we had so much planned (well, i had so much planned, not sure if he knew about it or not!) but he was sick pretty much the whole time. we did make it to the thrift store, though- i've never seen anybody less enthused to be in a resale shop. ANYWAY- i bought 3 different kinds of little dessert plates. not too thrilling, but better than standing in the return line at kohls for 25 minutes!



so did anybody get (or give) anything really great? here were my top 11 (since 10 is never enough) favorite gifts that i received:



*1. a really soft white bath robe *2. a blanket that i secretly loved for a long time- my mom saw it and KNEW that i would love it, so she got it for us- it has trees on it! little green trees! i will show you later... *3. a waffle iron. so so great. *4. neil young cd's *5. an iPod shuffle, which i havent opened yet because i want to get a nano instead- the wait is KILLING me though! *6. fondue! *7. domino magazine- the current issue is REALLY GOOD! or at least i think it is! *8. camera memory card (who can have too many of these? i always need more!) *9. a burt's bee's starter kit!!! so so soooo wonderful. *10. really awesome white cozy mittens *11- a block of colby cheese and some real maple syrup from my grandpa's "woman friend"- dont laugh! i'm from wisconsin! this was an awesome gift :)



what are you doing for new years eve? this is my first new years eve that i will actually get to go out- i missed the cut off date by just a few weeks last year! my birthday is january 27, just a little too late for bar hopping on new years. but now i'm 21 so it will be good. AND our friends brian and lindsay are coming from michigan, and lindsay turns 21 on december 29 (woah, thats today!) so i KNOW she'll want to go out. i am thinking about making spaghetti for everybody so we all have a full stomach to soak up all that beer (and champagne- my favorite!)



this morning i decided to get up at 4:30 and do the dishes. sounds crazy- but joe had to get up for work anyway, and i always see him off to work, so why not? after he left i listened to some neil young and ate some candy. now i am blogging. it's 5:38- i should go back to bed now.



take care, i will be making my blog rounds today and tomorrow, i miss you guys- everyone has been on break forever it seems!

(oh yeah- this is me eating a waffle made with our new waffle iron. topped with strawberries and fresh maple syrup and a side of bacon. drinking coffee and bailey's)

christmas

some holiday stuff...

don't mind the terrible photos! i hate apartment lighting!

newly purchased deer and garland.

my handmade christmas tree!
a cone tree that i made (2 more coming!)
scissors ornament that i made for our tree.

short post today, friends.

take care!

blogger annoys me.

yep. blogger really annoys me. it's really unreliable...buuut i suppose that since it's free i shouldnt complain. (i should move to typepad already).

today i am going to clean the house. it's been awhile since i had time to clean more than area in a day, so i think today is the day. i have to head out to restock my cleaning supplies- vinegar, lemons, and a scrub brush. i already have the baking soda, so that's good. i have been cleaning only with natural products for a few months now, although i still want some dish soap and laundry detergent and fabric softeners from method. really great design from people who care. i cant wait till i can finally order from them- i think i will order a bunch of stuff in the spring.

anyway, i plan on cleaning the refrigerator, the bathroom, and the floors. here are some of the recipes i use when i clean:

refrigerator:

to clean exterior and interior walls, dissolve 2 tbsp. baking soda in 1 qt warm water and wipe all surfaces. for stubborn spots, rub with baking soda paste. rinse with a clean wet cloth.

drain cleaner:

use this drain cleaner once a week to keep drains fresh and clog-free.

1/2 cup baking soda

1 cup white vinegar

1 gallon boiling water

1/2 a used lemon

pour baking soda down drain or disposal, followed by vinegar. allow it to foam for a while before flushing the drain with boiling water.

*baking soda on a damp sponge. baking soda cleans and deodorizes kitchen and bathroom surfaces.

*mix a few drops of essential oil with cornstarch and sprinkle on carpet. let sit for 20 minutes, and then vacuum. ONLY do this if your vacuum is really good at sucking stuff up, unlike mine, otherwise you have to sweep your carpet which is no fun!

okay, that is it for now. i need to get cleaning already. i cant believe its NOON! yikes, gotta go.

oh yeah- i made this journal last night:

blogger! stop spacing my paragraphs out like that! and start spacing them when i WANT spaces! uuuuugh.

sometimes i just dont want to think of a title.

hello all!

how is everybody doing? i hope none of you are too stressed from the holidays coming up. i am happy to say that this christmas season has been much less stressful than last christmas. last year i think i just had way too much going on, this year i'm a little more carefree. right now i am thinking that sending christmas cards might not happen, and i am okay with that. i would like to send them, but if it doesnt happen, it doesnt happen.

i have a few new things that i have made over the past couple of days. 2 journals and a couple of moleskines. tomorrow is a day of paper cutting, folding and creasing, followed by packaging lots of orders and a walk to the post office. oooh yeah, and grocery shopping (since i have put it off for over a week!) yikes- tonight i had a piece of toast with jam for dinner- that's literally all that is left! so i HAVE to go shopping tomorrow, yuck. i might go to this boutique called polly annas if i find time because i have a gift card. oh dang it i have to make a custom journal for somebody too. there is a lot to do, but i have a few days off from my restaurant job so if i dont finish tomorrow, no big deal. i am actually thankful that i have so much to do- i know so many people who are so bored with life because they dont have anything to pass time besides housework and watching television. those of you who know me know about my animosity towards watching television on a regular basis. anyway...

*****

these are a few of the new things i was talking about-

coptic bound journal, illustrated with black india ink and red pantone marker. drawing of an autumn tree.

mushroom large moleskine (i didnt even realize that i ordered large ones until they arrived the other day! i like the small ones more.)

coptic bound journal, illustrated with black india ink. "plants"....okay, so i have had a lot of "plants" journals, i know.

everything above is in my etsy shop right now. i am trying to keep it stocked for the holiday season, although it's almost over.

okay i'm tired. good night, friends.

woohoo!

today i am on the etsy showcase! super exciting...i should have signed up for more than one spot! oh well.

christmas tree photos to come...today i am busy updating my shop, so maybe tomorrow!

gotta run...

hello everyone!

how are things going? they are okay here, i've been slowly collecting gifts to give. so far everything i have has been bought off of etsy! my goal is to give mostly handmade for the holidays. i would go completely handmade, but i figure that even if 80% of the gifts are, then i did good.

i dont have a whole lot of time to post so it's going to be a short one. it's freezing in our apartment! it makes it even more difficult to get out of bed in the morning. so that got me thinking- if i was just like the general population and didnt make things, i could just sleep, work at chilis, and clean. then instead of making things, packaging orders, and post office runs i could be asleep. haha, just kidding. i could never do that!

last night i made a few new pocket books, this is one of them. i need to make one for myself already! i always write everything in the world down so i dont know why i havent just made one for myself recently.

this is our christmas tree, or part of it anyway. i made it last year, and it is one of my favorite creations ever. you can't really see the tree in this photo, so i will post more later. but its about 6 feet tall, maybe a little bit shorter, and decorated in brown, red, and white. AND there are even gifts from joe underneath it...he took a hint last year and decided that he was never going christmas shopping on the eve again! haha, i told him over and over that what he was doing was not a good idea. ha ha. so last night i set up a paypal account and an etsy account for him, but i made him type the passwords. he kept telling me to pick the passwords so he didnt have to get off the couch, but if i picked them, then christmas wouldnt be much of a surprise!
okay, more later. have a good one!

what i woke up to this morning...

this is what i woke up to this morning...

snow.

i dont really like snow all that much. i had to dig my car out of the apartment parking lot with a snow scraper since i dont have a shovel. hmph.

at least the pine trees look nice.

*******

5 things that i'm loving today:

pine cone card by moontea artwork

this beautiful photo of a farm

this pine box

hello, december by ashley g.

this barn pillow by two trees with roots like these.

yes, those are my current swoons. it was hard to narrow my list down- joe says that i want everything. not true. i just want everything that's cute and that i dont have to go to the store to get.

have a great friday night!