How I spent my Sataurday

The holidays are winding down, but before they ended totally I was due to do some serious baking. I did, and I have the back ache to prove it.

I spent all day Sataurday baking.

My kitchen looked like this:

But it was worth it, because I have many dozens of cookies to give to our friends and family, and some delicious desserts to share at our family get together today:

Here are some giant snowflake cookies I presented on specially painted plates for each of the children in the family. They turned out really well!

Birthday fun continued...

As soon as I thought the birthday fun had ended... it didn't! On Friday afternoon, after repeated attempts, I finally answered the call to go to the front desk at work. Much to my delight, I was greeted by me dear Darby! She advised that she was there to whisk me away to a surprise "Girls Night". We joined another friend Lisa, and frolicked about the exciting town of North Bend just enjoying each others company. It was such a fun surprise, and apparently took several days of planning. I had absolutely no clue! I even received a lovely serving platter from one of our favorite Antique stores as a gift! So fun! I am so lucky to have such thoughtful friends nearby who have spoiled me so!

Happy Birthday Me!

Thank you to all for your birthday well wishes today! I must admit, I was less than enthused to turn 31. There really is no denying it now, I am really in my 30's. Despite my being underwhelmed at turn 31, it was a good weekend. I took on a long list of "To Do" items I have been wanting to tackle for awhile. I woke up Saturday (to a quiet house... Thank you Dan!) and cleaned up the kitchen, the floors, cleaned out my mess of a closet, took clothes to Goodwill, did some grocery shopping, and went to the Library. That night we had a babysitter (NICE!) and went out to dinner with friends. We had a great time, and my dear Darby stole a votive from the restaurant especially for me. It was a special birthday gift, and we never even saw her do it... she is good! I am so glad being in my 30's doesn't mean we have to stop our childish hijinks's. Today I had the day off, and I spent all day getting most of my Christmas shopping done! I am so excited to be able to focus on just enjoying the holiday, stress-free (knock on wood). I also took advantage of Oprah's Container Store 20% off discount and picked up some big bins to organize our lives a little bit. You would think I would be uber-organized by how much I love to be organized... alas, not so much. Actually, staying organized is a bigger issue for me. So again, thank you for your phone calls, texts, messages, etc... sorry if I didn't immediately respond, I was on a serious mission.

What began as a bad day....

I didn't have the best start to my day.... first I overslept. Then, in an effort to try and "wake" myself up a bit, I made a stop at Starbucks. Being the thoughtful wife I am, I couldn't get myself something and not get Dan a warm caffeinated beverage as well. In an attempt to carry a bag of my lunch, my purse, two hot drinks and try and open up the door to get into the office building... you guessed it. Mocha all down the front of my new white blouse. It was sad. I was sad, and Dan was sad for me. Not much he could do.... but surprise me with roses. A couple hours later, a call from the front desk that I had a delivery. Never have I been sent flowers before, and it was the sweetest surprise. All the ladies in the office swooned (and of course they all know Dan and thought it was just about the cutest thing). The very best way to have flowers sent. Totally unexpected, no other reason (birthday, anniversary, Valentines, etc) than just to tell me he loved me. Man. Have I mentioned how I love him?

Love Him

After being married for 6 years, it is easy to forget to tell this man how much I appreciate him. However, it could be easy for him to "forget" to do nice things for me everyday, but he doesn't. After 6 years of marriage, he still remembers. This week I had to work late, and when I came home he had cleaned the kitchen, and prepared a yummy dinner for our family. This morning (WEEKEND!) when Quincy decided to wake up at 5:45am, instead of his usual 8 or 9am (I know, how lucky are we?) Dan told me to go back to bed, and then let me sleep in until 10am. He knows how I love my sleep, and I really really do, and makes sure I get enough of it. Now, this could be his own way of ensuring a pleasant weekend, but I appreciate it nevertheless. So lucky are we to have Dan's love and patience in our family. I love you DJW.

Halloween Cupcakes!

We had a little Halloween party, which meant I could have fun making some "themed" treats! My proudest, was my graveyard cupcakes!
Made to looks as though bony fingers are sticking up out of the grave site.

For dinner we had mummy dogs and calico beans. I made a blood red jello fruit salad... and totally forgot about it in the fridge. Nice. Now I guess we will be eating jello for a few days. Dang.

An Easy Fall Craft/Decoration

I am feeling particularly excited for the holidays, and you woud know this by the level of holiday decor/holiday magazines strewn throughout the house. In one of these many magazines, I found this easy fall idea... and in my opinion made it even better! With a roll of toilet paper, a quarter of a yard of fabric and whatever you have handy to create a stem and leaves you create an easy "pumpkin". Set the roll on the fabric and bring up the edges to tuck in to the center. The original version used pipe cleaners and felt for the stem and leaves, and a very bright orange fabric. I swapped them out for a more folksy look with cinnamon sticks as a stem and a silky ribbon as the leaves. Took me about 5 minutes to produce this, and can easily be disassembled for next year! A special thanks to me resident photographer, Dan. Thanks sweetie!

4 pounds?

Its true... instead of losing, I have been gaining weight. So I dug really deep... in my freezer, and this is what I found:

Could this be a problem? Dang this sweet tooth!!

I can't stop!!!

I just can't stop doing stuff. This weekend was beautiful, windy but sunny and warm-ish. My California friends would balk, it was in the mid-60's, balmy I tell you. I couldn't bear the idea of loafing about (Dan could) so....

• We drove to Wenatchee to visit Grandpa Gary and Aunt Deb. It was a beautiful drive, all the fall colors in full glory. It was a good visit, maybe the last for the winter season when the pass gets a little hairy.

• We bought Quincy's Halloween costume, a COWBOY, it will be pretty stinkin cute.

• I planted daffodils. I love the idea of planting spring bulbs in the fall. There is something so hopeful and optimistic about it. Just think, in a few short months, when we are tired of the gray and rain and cold... spring will come, and so will the daffodils.

• I painted our bathroom/toilet "nook". It has been painted black for awhile, which may seem really odd, but it is a very small room, and it just looks COOL. I have been wanting to "glam" it up for awhile, and I finally got around to doing it this weekend! The rest of our bathroom is black and white, with silver and crystal accents, so it suits the bathroom perfectly. I will include a picture, because I am so proud. OK, pic quality is poor... but you get the idea, and I included a picture of the rest of the bathroom so you get the idea of how it all works together.

Now... the rest of the house is a disaster. Oh well. I guess I know what I will be doing next weekend.