Everybody Wants to Be a Cat

My mom's friend has said for years, "If you want to learn how to relax, watch a cat," and after my long visit to Lebanon, I wholeheartedly agree with her statement.  Lucky is getting so big!  She's getting the royal treatment down at Dad and Mom's house, a package deal, which includes milk with her cat food and being toted around the house by my dad twice a day.  When she wants your attention from outside on the front porch, she hits the screen over the window with her paw.  Smart cat, huh?  I loved being at home with my family over Thanksgiving.  Highlights included: spending Turkey Day with my mom's family (giant crock pot of mashed potatoes, yeah!); going antiquing and spending hours in Hobby Lobby with my cousin Cort;  watching Casablanca for the first time; making white chocolate dipped pretzels and covering them in milk chocolate toffee bits and crushed up gingersnap cookies with Mom; and plain relaxing around the house. 

Bran, Dad and Lucky

 

December is looming over us, friends, and I'm trying to stay on schedule with my gift-making.  I do love the interim between Thanksgiving and Christmas, though.  For me, it's a time of reflection, and I am always astounded by how much God blesses me, even when I don't deserve it.  On Sunday, Jeff at LCF talked about kindness and how it is a huge part of Christ's nature.  One of the things he said was, "It is more important to be kind than it is to be right" (see John 8).  That statement really convicted me, and I'd like to strive to show more kindness toward people.  What a thing to be thankful for, the love and kindness of God.

DIY Time:  Pieces of Heaven Homemade Marshmallows.  I will be making these, stat.  I can't wait to try them; I've been coveting this recipe for months now, so bring on hot chocolate weather!

Photobooth

My friend Niknak and her fiance had their engagement photo shoot last Friday, and the pictures are now up.  I'm soooo impressed with their photographer.  I can't stop scrolling up and down their photographer's website; she does beautiful work, and I want everyone to see Niknak, Al, Charlie and Roxie.  Plus, if their post gets 100 comments, then they get a free print; so head on over and comment on the lovely autumnal photos of them posing in Richmond's Fan.

I get to go Lebanon tonight, yippeeeee!  It will be a wonderful week.  I plan on prepping some sewing + knitting projects, lapping up family time and doing a very minute amount of shopping with my cousin Cort on Friday.  And by shopping, I mean hitting up Hobby Lobby (the best craft store of all time) and antiques in Kingsport.

I have been feeling super culinarily uninspired lately; I even participated in one of those recipe email exchanges that I've always snarked at, but I haven't made anything from the recipes I received from that endeavor.  As it turns out, I did not receive the 400 recipes that the email leads you to believe you will receive, but I did get quite a handful.  I feel like a blob in my kitchen, eating chips, salsa, ice cream and deli sandwiches (in that order).  Bring on Thanksgiving!

DIY Time:  Yarn Wreath. You mustn't know how to knit to craft this beauty.  Niknak directed me to this link, and you can check out her yarn wreath; it's lovely in person.  I made a Christmas-themed one when I visited her this past Saturday, but I'd like to make one for every season. 

Money, Money, Money

Last night I had a little change-rolling party and watched Legends of the Fall. 

Today, I have $35.50 to show for it.  Get your change out, people, that's unaccounted for money that you could be saving, giving, spending, etc!  I know people that actually think they will have bad luck by snatching a penny tail-side-up.  

My mom always picks up stray pennies.  The way she sees it is, it's one more penny that she didn't have, and pennies add up to dollars and so on.  I probably sound like a first grade teacher.

DIY Time:  Bath Fizzies!  I haven't tried this out, but I've always wanted to make my own!  Great gift idea...someone in the reviews suggested using cookie cutters instead of the ice cube trays.  If anyone tries this out, let me know!

Celebration

Happy Election Day, everybody.  I hope everyone is celebrating by voting at the polls.  I'm planning on casting my vote after work this evening.

When we celebrated my mom's birthday, I made two party garlands.  I made this one from French General's Home Sewn book:

The second one I made was from a blog called Thimbly Things.  I made a cupcake liner garland out of leftover miniature Christmas cupcake liners (white with red polka dots) and mustard-colored yarn.  Wouldn't a Christmas-themed garland be super cute?  I have some leftover snowmen liners from last year that I might hang with some red butcher's twine...Is it sad that I'm already wanting to decorate for Christmas?

DIY Time:  Cupcake Liner Garland  The fun thing about this project is that you probably have the materials just laying around the house! 

November Has Come

Ya'll.  Is anyone else freaking out that it's November?  Time flies when you're having fun, huh?  This past weekend, I successfully dodged dressing up for Halloween.  I have never liked Halloween, other than eating copious amounts of candy (although my least favorite candy that regularly graced my treat bucket were those solid black and orange wrapped peanut buttery chewy candies), so I was happy to do that and admire the little people lurking with ravenous sweet teeth as well.

I got to go with Niknak and watch her pick out the dress for her wedding.  One word:  glowing. 

I went to Carter Mountain Orchard and picked up some yummilicious Fuji and Gala apples for munching this week.

H. and I went for a drive out in Monticello country and up to the Barboursville ruins to take another bite out of history up here in Central Virginia.  Mr. Barbour was a governor of Virginia back in the day, and Thomas Jefferson designed his mansion (complete with the octagonal room).  I got really sad when we read that the mansion burned down on Christmas day in 1884.  What a terrible day to have your house burn down (not that other days are better, but you get what I mean).

Saturday, H. and I went over to Poochie and her hubby M.'s house to play The Game of Life, and it was awesome.  A little tidbit about the game, though:  to win The Game of Life, you only have to have the most money.  Something in me cringed when I read the rule; this is what we're teaching our children.

And then yesterday I was a substitute player on H.'s kickball team, which was super fun.  I'm thinking about joining a kickball league here now...

When November hits, I start planning my Christmas gift-making shenanigans.  My goal for Christmas 2010 is to give everyone on my list something handmade.  I like to make most of the magic happen in November to avoid stress in December.  Christmastime is wonderful, and I love going to Christmas parties (and getting to wear sequins) and gallivanting around the mall listening to Jingle Bells and taking in all the decorations (even if I don't buy anything).  At the end of every post until Christmas, I hope to put a link to a DIY project that I have either tried or have in my bank of diy projects that I would like to try.  See the first DIY Time below!

DIY Time:  6-Pocket Bag:  This cute bag is a cinch to sew; it took me only a couple of hours!  I made this for my mom; she totes her lunch in it to work.  Happy November!

Surprise!

No one had ever hosted a surprise birthday party in my honor prior to two Fridays ago.  And by that I mean that H. threw me the most epic surprise birthday party of all time!  He had me picking something up from his house for him (with my friend K.), so when I got there, you might be able to imagine what happened next.  I opened the door and into pitch black I saw several figures, just standing, waiting (lurking, almost); so for a moment, I was terrified.  But then, someone opened the door, flipped the lights on, and tons of friends from college, work, etc. were standing in one room yelling, "Surprise!"  It was awesome.  My friend K. was in town for UVa's homecoming, and she was in on the surprise the whole time!  It was so fun!  Driveby of the weekend:  awesome surprise birthday party, Chocolate Festival and UVa Homecoming game the next day, and apple-picking on Sunday prior to K.'s departure.  Grrrreeat weekend!

A picture from the surprise party:  me with two cakes, how appropriate, guys.

The following week, I got an icky old cold, complete with fever, chills, coughing and copious amounts of chicken broth.  The most productive thing I did between Monday and Wednesday last week was watch Gone with the Wind straight through (including the intermission).

Alas, I was able to go back to work on Thursday and Friday, then drive to Lebanon for birthday festivities this past weekend (as my real birthday was on Sunday).  My mom and dad had a big birthday party for me at home, too, with yummy food and family.  AND, I got to debut my new cowboy boots for the occasion!

 

I also got to ride down to the farm to see some cuties, and by the way, Mom and Dad informed me that Lucky is a female cat, for the record.  Here are some shots from the farm:

Most of you all know how I feel about cats (not my favorite creations), but this little wild barn kitten is a doll!

And a smidgen of a tribute to my favorite dog that we have ever had:  Butch.  My brother got Butch when he was a puppy (he's a Great Pyrenees with a little bit of English Sheep dog in the mix); he has always lived with the sheep and he is a very timid dog.  He loves the sheep and won't let anyone he doesn't know near them; I love this dog and would steal him if I thought he would be happy with me in my little apartment.

On my birthday, Mom and I walked in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure with my sis-in-law S. and some of her family. It was a beautiful day, and it was my first 5k, even though we walked it!  S., her mother and sister made all of us tie-dye shirts for the event:  Go team Tie-Dye!

Me, S. and Mom at the 5k

Pink

My latest, and most secretive, project is pictured above, wrapped around my Mom's neck.  It was part of her birthday gift. I've been dying to show it off, but I couldn't spoil the surprise, so here it is.

One of my wonderful friends K. is coming into town today for UVa's Homecoming weekend.  It should be an awesome weekend filled with reminiscing and memory-making.  And cake, of course.  And maybe some apple-picking on Sunday afternoon.  Details will follow; have a good weekend!

The Jamestown Story

Last weekend, I had a history marathon with good friends.  On Friday night, we went on the Charlottesville Ghost & Murder Walking Tour, which follows the murder of ex-mayor Sam McCue's wife Fannie that happened in 1904; we even got to go to their house on Park Street.  Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the local history here.  It was so much fun; I learned a ton about Downtown Charlottesville, and I recommend it to everyone.

Then on Saturday, H., C&K. and I went to Williamsburg.  H. and I had lunch with his folks at the Cheese Shop, and then when C&K arrived, we all meandered around for the Prelude to Victory event happening in Colonial Williamsburg.  The Prelude to Victory was a reenactment of Williamsburg's receipt of Generals Washington and Rochambeau and their troops on their way to Yorktown to, in short, win the Revolutionary War.

For the record, we did not run into either General while meandering, but we did see a cow's utter being cooked over an open fire (interesting choice), a soldier sleeping in his tent, some Colonial crafting/mending, horse-drawn carriages and much more.  There were some kids playing with the muskets, and one soldier jumped out of character to tell the parents to have them be careful, as the guns cost about $800 each.

Then, C&K, H. and I headed to the Jamestown Settlement.  Many people have recommended that going to the Historic Jamestown (as in, the place where they actually set up camp) is the best place to go, but I really wanted to get on a seventeenth century replica ship, so we went to the Jamestown Settlement (replica village).  We didn't get there until 4:00, and they close at 5:00, so we only had an hour to take it in. 

The replica Ships at the Jamestown Settlement (we were standing on the Susan Constant, looking at the Godspeed and the Discovery).

Apparently, the Susan Constant carried about 70 passengers.  We were trying to imagine how difficult it must have been for all the passengers to pass time in a small ship like this one for almost five months!

Here is me in a bed aboard the Susan Constant; I figured out very quickly that it was stuffed with hay (dang you, allergies).

Here is the church at the Jamestown Settlement.  I thought it was very pretty.

I found it very difficult to take pictures of the historical reenactments without modern, 2010 people being in the shots, but this one was one of my favorite images from the day.

 

Happy Birthday, Darlin'

My mom had a very special birthday on Monday.  Dad, Bran and my sis-in-law S. and I had a luncheon in her honor.  I made a fabric party garland from French General's Home Sewn book. It was a hit! Here's what I made for our little party:  spinach souffle dip, spinach-ricotta stuffed chicken, cooked broccoli and Parmesan baked shoestring fries.  For dessert, I successfully nailed some chocolate souffles (but they fell before we could finish singing "Happy Birthday").

Then Mom, my sis-in-law S. and I went to Abingdon to hit up some cute little shops for the afternoon.  It was a lovely autumnal day, but apparently many of the local shops are closed on Mondays.  Instead, we opted to see a movie, Wall Street, and we all enjoyed it.  Later, we went back to Mom and Dad's, got a pizza and drank some champagne.  Some highlights in photos:

Mom and I in historic Abingdon, VA.

 Mom sporting the new jacket that Dad gave her.  Isn't she glowing?  Here's to you, Mom. 

October Road

This past weekend, I drove down a long stretch of Interstate 81, and when I drove by the Hillsville exit, I remembered the beautiful colors reminiscent of fall that I captured within the antique booths. But I continued to Lebanon, and I got to stay for a few extra days to hang with my family. Fall is here, folks. More about the weekend tomorrow.

I loved this chandelier for sale in Hillsville.