countdown

ringing in the new year with (homemade) chinese food.

is there any other way?

the progression

from mid-morning nap on the couch to an afternoon of playing video games (lego harry potter: years 5-7) and listening to audio books (harry potter and the goblet of fire). he is nothing if not a dedicated fan.

clearly matt knows how to use his work holidays wisely. 

in other news: please notice my new rug!

i've been on the hunt for some time and almost bought a slightly smaller shag rug, but faltered at the last minute. i love shag rugs, but it would be so impractical for our space. we needed something a little more indoor/outdoor-ish and something stain resistant. this passes on both accounts. i've already tested it's stain resistance. 

while matt lounges i've been giving my closet the once over - organizing and mending and tossing and donating. i'm trying that trick where you put all your hangers backwards and then hang them correctly after you've worn the item. i want to see what i actually wear and what i just think i wear. there are a couple things i claim to love, but haven't worn out of the house since last winter. this will give them one more chance before they hit the goodwill pile.

and now to dream up more projects for the afternoon...

random wednesday night

stove top popcorn and dutch blitz.

popcorn - awesome.

dutch blitz for two - not so. we need a third at least.

winding down

as much as i anticipate and absolutely love christmas, i think i enjoy the week after just as much. it's a lovely and quiet time in our house. matt is off work, we have no real agenda. we can lounge around or pick up projects as the mood strikes. 

today matt's mood suggested video games and so he obliged. was, is, will likely continue to play for some time. must put those beloved christmas presents through their paces. 

and since the weather suggests spring is just around the corner (it's not, today is a fluke, sadly) i decided a good spring early winter cleaning was in order. washed all our bedding, sorted through christmas things as i put them away, reduced and recycled a bunch. i love welcoming the new year with a spotless, well organized house. it's a fresh, new beginning. 

for fun, i've been toying with the idea of a few new year goals. trying to hone and define exactly what it is that i hope to accomplish. although really, i just want to be better next december. better than i am today, better than i'll be in june. always moving forward. the goals just allow for a tangible, measurable way of recognizing "better". 

and what's most lovely - i have three more days of this! maybe i'll tackle some bigger projects like reupholstering the ottoman or painting my desk. you know, if the mood strikes. 

santa was very good to us this year

it's in the air

gingerbread men

ingredients:
1/2 cup butter/margarine, softened
1 egg
2/3 cup molasses
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

directions:
in large bowl whisk the butter, egg, molasses. in another bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine. refrigerate dough for at least two hours.

on a lightly floured surface roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. cut cookies and place them 1 inch apart on a greased cookie sheet.

bake for 8-12 minutes at 350*F.

yields:
approximately 2 dozen 3"x2" cookies. this will depend entirely on the size of your cookie cutters.

source: 
joy of baking

notes:
these cookies were excellent for decorating because they didn't crumble. i'd definitely be willing to use this recipe for a gingerbread house.

one green glittery m...

check. 

christmas is coming together quite nicely.

i (nearly) finished shopping today. just a couple things to pick up for stockings yet.

i made matt write out every last obligation, work and otherwise, that he has this week so i have some idea of when he's coming and going. i love being around the church at christmas because it's fun and festive and energetic, but it does mean we have to plan ahead and make sure our personal obligations are taken care of early to make things a little easier on ourselves.

only 8 days to go!

cheap tricks

i'm full of 'em, but these are two of my favorite...

...using pop can tabs as picture hangers.

this is especially handy when i find something that i want to hang that doesn't come with a hanger (since most picture frames do). lighter items wouldn't even need the tabs screwed in, just some superglue and a few hours to dry.

... and common pins as wall anchors.

push them down diagonally into the drywall and you have a surprisingly sturdy anchor. 

and their not just for small things like keys. everything on these two walls are hung with common pins. for the larger, slightly heavier items like the cork board and biggest picture frame, i used two pins about a half-centimeter apart for each hanger. 

also, for things where the anchor might show (like the key), it's impossible to see unless you're right next to the wall.

best of all - when you decide to rearrange your pictures or inevitably move out of that rental house you're left with nothing more than a pin hole in the wall. barely visible and very easy to cover with spackle.

i've only used the common pins in drywall. i can't attest to their strength in plaster walls so if you try, i'd test it somewhere inconspicuous first.  

can you tell it's cloudy and grey today? it's impossible to get a decent picture inside if the sun isn't shining. 

evergreen

i might not have room for a real tree in the house, but that doesn't mean i can't have the smell. 

craft time at the office

hanging out with matt at church today. and i swear it is the slowest day ever.

so i'm painting letters to pass the time.

because nothing says LABELING CHRISTMAS GIFTS like a huge initial.

lou, would you like to be green or gold?

in other news

started christmas shopping today. not sure how much we accomplished really, but i'm glad to have a few ideas and a plan. it's so unlike me to not have everything done at this point, so i'm getting a little nervous. the ducks should have been wrapped and in a row a week ago.

in other non-christmas shopping i bought a pair of roots sweatpants for $4 (!) thanks to a 30% off sale and a $25 gift card. all winning for me. and now matt can have his sweatpants back. and i got a nice pair of dress pants from rw&co for $5 (double !).  as a rule, i hate dress pants, but i don't own any and they are somewhat of a wardrobe staple. despite the dislike, i need them and may as well buy when the sales are hot.


and finally, in the use it or lose it category - i bought a purse a while ago and it came with this fancy little keychain-y thing...

cute, but surprisingly heavy and just a nuisance to keep on the purse. so i threw it on my dresser and stared at it for a few weeks. the little key and locket would make a nice necklace, the bigger key is actually really trendy right now in home decor (pinterest has an obsession with framing old keys) so that may make an appearance somewhere in our house eventually. and the leather strap... well, why not a bracelet? 

it has a pre-made button hole (where the leather looped around the key and fed back through the strap) and it just happened be the perfect size for my wrist. a button, some thread and five minutes later - new bracelet for me. i think it looks like something american eagle would sell. or maybe the fossil store itself. so you too can have a unique leather bracelet if you spend $200 on a purse to get the goods. (or you can spend $30 for the same purse at winners like i did.) 

advent is here, bringing good cheer

to one and all, dun dun dun dun, ring ring a-ling, blah blah blah blah. 

i finished the advent calendar a few days ago (like november 30 at 11:55pm, ha), but it was just okay. i had five straight branches running across the frame (portrait rather than landscape like it is now) with the little, numbered goodie bags cloths pinned on. it worked, but it was so boring. 

i knew i could do better and after seeing this idea floating around pinterest i dismantled the old and brought in new. twigs with character... or something. i was just a matter of playing around with the branches and deciding how to lay them out, then some staples and hot glue for good measure and i had this...  

i made the bags out of unbleached muslin - $1.99 meter at ikea - and painted the numbers with a metallic gold paint - $2 from walmart. the frame was another yard sale find ($2) and the branches were free. obviously. please don't ever pay for branches. or rocks. i used paperclips to hang the bags, but ornament hooks would do the trick (and probably better, but i wanted to use what i had). 

i had great intentions of being creative with the contents of the goodie bags... adding twoonies for coffee and other tiny, but useful trinkets. let's just say that i ran out of creativity and time and just grabbed two bags of candy and called it a day. so matt and i alternate between cookies-n-cream hershey's kisses and reese's cups. 

and there are three candies for the 23rd, 24th, and 25th. we're just waiting for lou to get here! 

i love

... finding a left-behind receipt at the superstore gas bar - more superbucks for meeee!

... checking off everything on my to do list and not procrastinating as i'm prone to do.

... unexpected christmas gifts three weeks early!

a stocking cap for the first day of december

logically. of course. who wouldn't associate the two?

i'm a fabric scavenger. if it's clean (okay, sometimes even if it's dirty-but-could-be-cleaned) and it's big enough to make something it goes in my fabric box. i mean, who wouldn't look at two left over sleeves from a long sleeve shirt and think, "this could totally be a hat!" actually, that was my second thought. the first was leg warmers. for someone whose legs are exponentially shorter than mine. 

in other news - i have filled my movie-theater-going quota for the year. we double dated with q and girlfriend tuesday night to see The Muppets. 

and then i confessed to matt that i have never watched a single episode of the The Muppets Show (nor have i seen The Muppets Christmas Carol, which i'm fairly certain precludes me from even being part of the fitz family, marriage certificate not withstanding). 

so his first and only mission upon leaving the theater was to locate The Muppet Show on dvd and make me watch. which we're doing right now. and then (i don't know why i'm sharing this with you...) i just had to ask why bert and ernie were on The Muppet Show. apparently Sesame Street is a subset of muppets. who knew? 

blame my parents. i didn't have cable as a kid. and i have clearly suffered because of it. clearly.