Just a Bowl of Fruit (Salad)

Good day my dear readers!!  It's SUPER cold here this morning.  The radio announced that it was 16* when I woke up and according to my computer dashboard, it's still only 18*!  Brrrrrr!!!  Sounds like a perfect day to stay home.  Under the covers.  With a good book and a warm cup of coffee.  Without the kids.  LOL  But, I'm at work.  I'm thankful for my job (and the heat in the building), but a quiet day at home to do whatever, whenever I want, sounds good, too.

Turkey Day was quiet for us this year.  Meaning?  Just the boys, the hubs and me.  Then the hubs invited his Dad.  No biggie - he's pretty quiet.  And it's just one more person, so it didn't mean I had to make any more/extra food.  It just meant that we had to clean up the house a little bit more than usual, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I'm just sayin'.  Anyway, we had more than enough food - as is true with all of our family gatherings.  Of course I'm going to share some of those recipes with you, my bloggy buddies.  This delicious, easy recipe comes from my family cookbook.

Sour Cream Fruit Salad
1 can chunk pineapple, drained
1 large can pears, drained, cut in 1" pieces
1 small package flaked coconut
1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained and halved
1 cup sour cream
16 whole large marshmallows, cut in half*
*Do not use miniature marshmallows - they will just disintegrate.  The cut marshmallows put gelatin in the salad and help to thicken it up.

Mix all ingredients together.  Cover and refrigerate overnight to set.

NOTES:  I don't know the size of the pineapple can, but I can tell you it's not the big one.  You don't have to get chunked pineapple; you can cut up the rings or you can get tidbits.  Either way, pineapple is pineapple.  LOL  I don't use a whole "small package" of coconut.  I throw in whatever tastes right.  I don't like sour cream, but I love this salad.  This recipe works well doubled, which is how we usually do it, but for 3 adults, this is a good size.

Remember to use large marshmallows!  If the scissors get gummed up while cutting the marshmallows in half, just run the scissors under warm water to clean them off.

Chunk the pears.  I can usually get 6 pieces out of one pear.  If you like more pears, you can always add another smaller can.

Chill and serve.  How easy is that?!  And it tastes good, too.  A pregnant woman I worked with begged me to bring this to her baby shower.  It felt weird not making it for a holiday meal.

I was going to share another side dish recipe with you today, but I can't get the cookbook disc to read on my Mac here at work.  So, I'm going to do another post today with a dessert instead (it deserves its own post).

I was thinking.  Once my blog hits its 1 year birthday (in April), I was considering putting together a cookbook.  Nothing big and nothing fancy.  Just a collection of the recipes I've shared on my blog so far.  Would anybody be interested in something like that?

*sigh*  I've got so much to do in the coming weeks.  Please cross your fingers that I find the time to do it all and still have enough time to sit back and relax a little.  Have a terrific Tuesday!

Ladies Night

Happy Monday, Kitschies!  I hope you all survived the holiday weekend and got some awesome deals if you went out and braved the Black Friday crowds.  I didn't even venture farther than my backyard on Friday.  The hubs had to work, so I spent the day with the boys.  I was planning on taking the boys to the zoo on Friday, but it was SOOO cold on Thursday, I didn't want to chance it.  I did, however, go out on Saturday and between that outing and the online shopping I had done earlier in the week, I'm pretty much finished shopping!  Now it's time for wrapping.  Bah humbug!!

I have so many pictures to prep for the blog!  A bunch of recipes from Thanksgiving.  A couple manis.  *sigh*  There is never enough time in the day!  And when it's cold, all I want to do is go to bed early and curl up under the covers.  I got about a third of the pics prepped yesterday.  I wanted to do a recipe today, but I didn't get all the pics prepped.  Hopefully I'll get more done tonight.  So, instead, I'll share a mani from a couple weeks ago.

A while back, Magic Maid was having a great blog sale.  I picked up a few (or six) from her, and this was one of them.

This is China Glaze Skate Night from the Retro Diva collection.  This is a gorgeous deep red based purple shimmer.  Almost a wine color.  Whatever you call it, it is gorgeous.

It looks more red in this picture, but I promise you it's purple.  Maybe mulberry?  Dunno.  Don't care.  LOL

When I was putting it on, it reminded me a lot of OPI Diva of Geneva.  So much so, I had to pull out the bottle to compare. 

You can see here in the bottles that Skate Night is more red and Diva of Geneva is more purple.  I wasn't convinced.  I have this thing with OPI.  Once applied and dried, OPI seems a shade or two darker than in the bottle.  So, I grabbed a nail wheel and did a couple swatches to compare.

The pic is a little on the dark side (I hate that it's so dark so early now), but you can see that Diva of Geneva is, in fact, more purple than Skate Night.  I guess that just goes to show you that you can't always rely on memory.

Red.  Purple.  Mulberry.  Meh.  They're just names.  I loved this color the first time I saw it on other blogs and I snatched this one up as soon as I saw it listed on MM's blog sale.  LOVE it!!

Now that Thanksgiving is done, that means Christmas is just around the corner.  I hate the hustle of Christmas but I love being with family and seeing Nate and Mason enjoy all the excitement.  This year we are driving out to The Golden State to spend Christmas with my family and though I am NOT looking forward to the drive out there, I can't wait to see my family!!!  Most of them haven't even met Mason yet!  So, let the countdown begin: 25 days.  WOOT!

Who is it? Who is it?!

The holiday weekend is almost over.  It feels like it's lasted forever for some reason, and not necessarily in a bad way.  And after all the prep work, Thanksgiving was here and gone in a blink of an eye.  Why does it always work like that?

The hubs had to work Friday, but I was home with the boys.  I managed to capture this cute picture of Mason (almost 18 months) and Nate (4+ years) playing...together.  It's so sweet to see them playing together.  And then Mason usually knocks over Nate's tower and it's over as fast as it began.  LOL

Anyway...my Thank You For Being My Friend giveaway closed last night!  You know what that means?  That means we have a WINNER!!!  Bet you wanna know who it is, don't ya?  Well...after going through 115 comments that produced 192 entries, I went to random.org and plugged in the numbers.  The winner of the giveaway is...wait for it...wait...for...it...

Congrats to Kris!!  If you haven't seen her site Lacquer Wear for Tips and Toes, you should definitely check it out.  Kris does some wicked frankens (some of which she's giving away!).  Dood!  I just realized I spelled Lacquer wrong in the pic.  *sigh*  That's what happens when you put something like that together after midnight.  AND...she has a great food blog, too. 

Thank you to everyone who entered.  I'm sorry I'm not able to do giveaways more frequently, but I try to make them that much more special when I do host one.  I really do appreciate all of my followers and if you're new, I hope you've liked what you've seen and decided to stick around. 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.  I have quite a few recipes and a couple manis on deck.  Now I just have to prep all the pics.  Good times.

FYI

Just a little note to let you know that my Thank You For Being My Friend giveaway is now closed.

I'll be picking and announcing a winner soon.

Good night.

And good luck!

Flashback Friday

Happy Day After Turkey Day!  I was not one of the crazy people who went to whatever store at 3 in the morning.  I value my sleep and getting up before the crack of dawn is not my idea of a good time.  Not to mention the low as about 13* last night!  Brrrrrrrr!  I rolled my lazy butt out of bed about 7:30 - not near as late as I wanted, but when the hubs has to go in to work and the boys are up, there's no choice. 

Anyway...I'm linking up with Christopher and Tia: Flashback Friday again.  Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share Nate's first Thanksgiving.

This is Thanksgiving 2006.  Nate is 4 months old.  Yeah, he was a big boy - even then.  It's amazing how much he's changed in 4 years.  Kinda makes me sad.

And here is the cute little (big) boy relaxing on a fur rug.  OMGosh I can't get over how chubby chunky his little face was.  I just want to gobble him up.  Get it?  GOBBLE him up?  *ah*  I crack myself up. 

Gobble, Gobble!

Happy Turkey Day, dear readers!!  I hope you get to spend your day enjoying the company of family and friends.  Watching football (if that's what you do) and stuffing yourself so much that you have to unbutton the top button of your pants!!  Thanksgiving dinner preparations began last night with the baking of a pumpkin cheesecake and a cherry pie and the mixing of a sour cream fruit salad.  Not to mention the cleaning of the kitchen and the dining room area.  *whew*  I was pretty tired by the time I made it in to bed last night.  This morning has been pretty busy as well.  I made breakfast for all the boys (waffles and bacon) and the chili corn casserole is in the oven as I type this.  So, while I have a break in the action (Mason's "napping", Nate's watching Dungeons & Dragons a la 1984, and the hubs is in the shower), I thought I'd share one of the new recipes I tried last week.

One of the docs I work with gave me two BIG containers of fresh frozen pumpkin puree.  He barely got the question out before I said I'd take them!  I've made quite a few recipes from the first container, and this was the last one.  I got this recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs: Baking and Mistaking.  She makes/shares great recipes and she shares some "mistakes", too, which always makes me feel good knowing that I'm not the only one who has a fail in the kitchen every now and then. 


Pumpkin Muffins
2 cups pumpkin puree
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup apple butter or applesauce
4 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6 oz package dried cranberries*

Topping:
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar

Whisk together the pumpkin, oil, apple butter or applesauce, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, 2 cups sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth.

Whisk in the flour and baking powder until just combined - don't over mix.

Stir together the cinnamon and remaining tablespoon of sugar in another bowl.

Divide batter among 24 paper-lined muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), the sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Bake at 350* F about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

*NOTES:  The recipe listed on Baking and Mistaking didn't have a quantity for the pumpkin pie spice, so I guesstimated and put in 1 tsp.  I have an email out to Amy and when I get the specific amount, I'll change it.  The recipe did not call for dried cranberries, but I thought it sounded good, so I added them.  I loved the way it turned out.

The recipe said apple butter or apple sauce - I used applesauce because it's cheaper and the boys will eat it.  There are two things different/missing from this picture.  I used fresh pumpkin puree - the cans photograph better - and the dried cranberries (or crannies, as they're known in my family).

YUM!  These were so good straight out of the oven.  See the cool muffin liners?  The hubs let me use "his" muffin liners that he'd picked up for Halloween.

The hubs took these to his office (the peeps at my office are probably getting burned out on pumpkin goodies) and they loved them.  All the muffins were eaten by the end of the day, and that's the way I like it.  The thing about these muffins is that they're not as sweet as your typical muffin and I think that's because of the whole wheat flour.  Just be warned that if you cook with wheat flour, the muffins (or whatever you're baking) won't rise quite as much as if you were to use regular all-purpose flour.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  You have until November 27th (that's just two days from now), so don't delay.  You can link to my giveaway HERE.

AND...I've been featured as Blog of the Day on Not Worth Mentioning!  I love Jesse's blog - it's full of oddball, off-the-wall posts that always make me smile (and usually LOL at the craziness that is Jesse's mind).

I'm off to the bird in the oven, but before I go, I wanted to take a second to reflect on things I am thankful for.  I am thankful for many things this Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful for my family (near and far) and friends (also near and far).  I'm thankful we're all healthy and have a roof over our heads.  I'm thankful for all the creature comforts we enjoy.  And I'm also thankful for my readers!!!  Thank you everybody!!

It's Turkey Time!

Image Source

It's almost that time!!  What time?  TURKEY TIME!!  Who doesn't love all that food?!  I love the food, but I don't care for all the mess and stress that comes with the day.  We are having a small Thanksgiving - just me, the hubs, the boys and the hubs' Dad.  It's pretty busy at work today and I didn't have time to prep any pics last night, so I thought I'd share my planned menu with you.

Of course we're having turkey.  I'd like to have something other than turkey, but the hubs nixed that idea.  So, then, it becomes all about the sides.  We're having mashed potatoes and gravy, sour cream fruit salad, chili corn casserole (both of those are family recipes), rolls, and cranberry sauce straight outta the can (nothing's too good for *my* family).  Stuffing?  I haven't decided yet.  The hubs will. not. eat. stuffing.  He told me that if I ever want to leave him, all I'd have to do is fix him a big plate with all his "won't eats" and he'd get the point.  LOL  Then there's the desserts.  I'm not going the traditional route with pumpkin or pecan pie.  A while back, my hubs' bestie made an awesome pumpkin cheesecake and I've made it every year since.  My hubs also requested a cherry pie.  Really?  A cherry pie?  In November?  Yep.  Because I love my hubs (and because they have cherries available in a can), I am making him a cherry pie.  And guess what?  I'm not ready.  We have the turkey.  And that's it.  I have to go to the grocery store on my lunch break and brave the crowds.  Please send positive energy my way - I'll need it to get through all stoopid people.  I already hate crowds.  Throw the stress of the holidays in there and it's even worse!!

What are your plans for Turkey Day?  Are YOU cooking?  What are you having?  What's your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?

Pink FAIL

Good morning, Kitschies!  I hope you're having a good week.  I'm fighting a cold (ugh!) and with the hubs gone, I'm exhausted.  This wonderful crud has been circling the office and it finally found its way to me.  Lucky me.  I guess it doesn't help that I stayed up later than I'd planned watching season 5 of Grey's Anatomy.  I don't know if you watch the series, but the last two episodes of the fifth season were INTENSE!!  I spent those last episodes with my hands clamped over my mouth and tears streaming down my face.  The entire time!  It's a wonder I was able to fall asleep after watching those (thank you Nyquil).

I wanted to post a new recipe for you today, but since it's been a little chaotic at home, I haven't had the time (or the energy) to prep pics.  I usually like to mix it up, so don't hate me for sharing back to back manis with you.

A couple weeks ago, there was a pink nail art challenge posted by Fab Ur Nails.  At the time, I thought this was a great challenge.  And then I thought about it for a while and couldn't come up with anything original, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to take a stab at gradient sponging.   I did not submit these to the pink nail art challenge.

I started with Color Club She's So Glam!, a bubblegum pink creme.  Application on this was meh.  It was streaky even after two coats.  I wasn't too worried about the application because I knew I'd be layering over this with two other colors.

The second coat was an un-named Color Club light berry creme from the All About Color collection.  I started about a third of the way up from the base of the nail and sponged toward the tip.

The third color was another un-named Color Club color in a darker berry creme from the All About Color collection.  I started about two thirds up from the base of the nail and took the color all the way to the tips.  I don't know if it was the choice of colors or what, but I wasn't happy with this.  So not happy, in fact, that I took this off and started completely over after I took these pictures.  Good thing I only did my left hand. 

This is the mess that I ended up with that night.  I was having some inspiration issues.  I ended up with about 10 bottles of polish/paint (not including base and top coat), various art tools and a sponge out on the table.  What I settled on is that bright blue in the bottom right corner.

What do you do when you have a mani fail?  Do you wear it for a day or so because you took the time to do it?  Or do you just clean it up and start over?

Blue Monday

Well, today was going to be a good day.  But then I got a text from my hubs letting me know that "just kidding - we're not coming home til tomorrow".  *sigh*  I miss my hubs and really want him home.  On an up note, though, he did get a deer yesterday.  I take that back.  I don't know if that's a good thing or not.  Either way, I know we'll have enough venison to feed a small army.   So, if you have any good tried and true venison recipes, please send them my way: megharmeyer@gmail.com

To pick up my mood a bit, I'm going to share my latest water marble with you.  I think I'm really getting the hang of this water marbling thing.  The one thing that's made all the difference is the water temperature.  I've read that the water needs to be room temp, but I've found that warmer, tepid water works the best (for me).  Of course the polish you chose matters, too, but I've had good luck with the polishes I've chosen.  Enough of the rambling, right?

This water marble reminds me of my high school.  We were the Drillers (I grew up in the heart of oil country in the central valley of California) - blue and white. 

I started with a base (1 coat) of LA Colors Static Electricity which is a medium blue creme.  Then I marbled Orly Lunar Eclipse (blue glass-flecked shimmer) and Finger Paints Easel Come, Easel Go (silver foil).

This is my camera-shy right hand.  I was so pleased with this one - it made me want to do another marble right after I took this one off!

My left hand.  I love how every finger looks different.  I don't care what color combo you go with - water marbled manis are my "car wreck" manis.  LOL  Especially the ones with a glittery finish like this.

For some reason when I do a water marble, there's always one nail that I like the most.  This time it was my right hand pinkie.  And what did I learn from this picture?  I either need to get better taking pictures with my left hand or I need to dig out the tripod.  Either way, I think this water marble was a WIN!

OK.  Now I feel a little better.  Pretty fingers always make me feel better.  And I love the mani I'm rockin' today, so I guess this Monday isn't a total loss.  Make the most of your day.  If you're like me, it's a short work week - one thing to look forward to.  And Friday, the bestie and I are planning on taking the kidlets to the zoo, as long as it's not freezing - another thing to look forward to.

Especially for BANC

Happy Friday!!!  I'm happy but anxious about the weekend.  The hubs is going hunting and is leaving tomorrow morning.  No biggie with that whole thing other than the fact that he won't be back until late afternoon on Tuesday.  That means I will have the boys all to myself the whole weekend and two week day mornings.  It gets pretty hectic without him around.  I love my boys, but they can be a hand full!  Let's cross our fingers that I can get Nate engrossed in some good projects and Mason will cooperate and take naps like he usually does.

Today, to the delight of my friend Bethany, I am bringing you an awesome awesome cookie recipe.  There's a little story with this one.  This is one of my favorite family recipes, but I don't like to make it very often because it makes a LOT of cookies.  When I do make it, I usually take a bunch to work because if they're at home, I *will* eat them.  ALL of them.  By myself.  LOL  When Bethany and I worked together, she would beg me to make them.  She's even had her dad ask me for them!  And you don't know how many times she's asked me for the recipe after she stopped working with me.  And I've given it to her.  A couple times.  We've even traded goodies (me: cookies, her: homemade salsa).  Now, since she can't seem to hold on to this prized recipe, I'm sharing it with everybody.  And so she'll quit bugging me.

Pumpkin Cookies
2 cups sugar
2 cups shortening
1 16 oz can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
2 cups raisins
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In large mixing bowl, cream together sugar and shortening.  Add pumpkin, eggs and vanilla.  Mix well.  In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.  Gradually add to creamed mixture.  Mix well.  Stir in raisins and nuts.  Drop from rounded teaspoon on to greased cookie sheet about 2" apart.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheet to cool.  Once cool, frost with vanilla or cream cheese frosting.  Makes approximately 96 cookies.

NOTES:  You read that right.  96 cookies!  When the recipe says large bowl read: VERY large bowl.  My mom makes these using vanilla frosting because she doesn't like cream cheese, but I prefer it with cream cheese frosting.  These cookies are especially good because they're more cake-like and not super sweet.

These cookies almost didn't happen.  A couple times.  First, I had my hubs look in the cabinet to see if we had Crisco - we did.  I get home from the grocery store, go to grab the Crisco and wouldn't you know it.  The Crisco was rancid.  *sigh*  I threw Nate in the car and on to the store we went to pick up Crisco.

Crisis averted.  I go to get everything together for the recipe and wait!  There's not near enough sugar. *sigh*  I thought I had a partial bag of sugar in the pantry.  Nope.  Luckily, the hubs took pity on me (because I was a little more than irritated because that would've been trip #3 to the grocery store in the same day), loaded the boys in the car and went to the store to get sugar.  As he was leaving, the hubs said: I better get something good out of this!  Well...he did.  COOKIES!

This is what the hubs calls an action shot.  Yep.  Those are my hands frosting a cookie.  It took forever to finish all those cookies.  I think I finally finished the whole batch by 9:00.  On a school night.

All frosted and ready to go!  The office got quite a few of these, and they were all gone by the end of the day.  We still have some at home and I'm eating through them slowly.

OK, B!  I don't wanna hear that you can't find the recipe because now it's here for everybody to see on the internets.  Go get the ingredients and make a batch - you won't be sorry! 

Pretty Things

Happy Thursday!  Why does it seem that Monday and Tuesday take forever to get through, but once you get past Wednesday, the rest of the week just flies by?  I had a pretty good day yesterday.  I picked up a gorgeous red jelly polish and can't wait to post it here.  Today I have an eye doctor appointment - definitely time to get an upgrade on my contacts!

A suggestion I got quite a bit from my giveaway is posting more hauls.  I don't usually like to post hauls because I don't want to seem like I'm rubbing all my good stuff in everybody's faces.  But, since this is what people asked to see, who am I to deny them?  And I like looking at hauls, so I should like presenting hauls, right?

Here's my November haul.  So far.  LOL

Color Club All About Color collection.  I picked this up from Ross for $8.  I'd give you the name of the colors, but there isn't a list on the box and I can not find this collection online.  In any case, it's a red creme, light pink creme, medium pink creme, royal purple shimmer, dark pink creme, dark purple shimmer and royal blue shimmer.

The second I saw this in the bins at Ross, I squeed and then snatched it up.  I'm sure the people around me thought I had lost my mind.  LOL  Color Club Electro Candy collection.  $8.  I'm sure you all pretty much know the colors in this, but I'm gonna tell you anyway.  Volt of Light (highlighter yellow), What A Shock (alien slime green), Electro Candy (neon pink), Tangerine Scream (traffic cone orange), Ultra Violet (neon purple), Pure Energy (neon turquoise) and a top coat.  I've previously stated how much I abhor neon, but I've had a change of heart.  This collection is gorgeous!  Each color has a flash of purple, green or blue and it's so pretty!  The top coat has a faint blue tint to it to help bring out that gorgeous flash.

Color Club Untamed Luxury collection.  Ross.  $8.  Pretty in Platinum (pearl gray shimmer), Wild Orchid (purple taupe gray), Positively Posh (brown taupe), Soft as Cashmere (gray taupe), Nothing But Truffle (blackened burgundy shimmer - my fave of the group), Jewel of a Girl (wine/burgundy shimmer) and Ready to Royal (super deep vampy purple).

I picked this one up for three reasons.  Skull and crossbones with bows.  And one or two of the colors looked promising.  Ross - $4.  But I'm a little confused about the packaging.  The box says neon.  This is so NOT neon!  These are more iridescent than neon.  Anyway, for 4 bucks, even if they're horrible, I could probably empty out the polish and use the bottles for frankens.  I tried one of these out over topcoat and it wouldn't stick!  In this set we have yellow, light pink, baby blue, pink, white and gray.  Since when is gray neon?  LOL

Altogether now.  To recap, I got 27 polishes for $28.  That's *just* over a buck a bottle!  I also picked up the collection I'm giving away at the end of next week.

A couple weeks ago, Ulta opened in Albuquerque.  I am so excited!!  This place is like my candy store.  I didn't get to go to the grand opening, but my bestie did.  And she picked me up a little something.  She' ROCKS!  She grabbed Essence Color & Go in Ultimate Pink and Plum Perfect.  They don't look so close in color IRL.  My flash really washed out Plum Perfect.

She also grabbed Orly Out of This World.  This is from the Space FX collection, and like its sisters, it is GORGEOUS!  Purple glass fleck with gold/green flash.  I can't wait to wear this.  See?  My bestie really is the BEST!

I couldn't take it any longer.  The bestie and I went to Ulta that Sunday.  They had some great sales since it was their grand opening weekend.  I picked up 3 OPIs I'd been drooling over because they were buy 2, get 1 free (and they gave me a little extra discount on top of that so I got all 3 for something like $14 - they're normally $8.50 each!).  From back to front: Rumples Wiggin (light lavender creme), The Show Must Go On (gorgeous pink/gold duo glass fleck), and Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow (super deep vampy green creme). 

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but this was a no-buy month for me.  That was until I found those sets at Ross. *hides head*  To make me feel better about all of this, I remind myself that I didn't buy any of these at full price.  AND...the bestie got me 3 of them.  LOL  Whatever I tell myself to sleep at night, right?  I'm going to put it out there right now.  December is absolutely at no buy month for me.  Seriously!  Unless, of course, I get gift cards for Christmas and then it doesn't really count as a buy because somebody else will be supplying me with the funds.  LOL  OK.  I'm starting to look ridiculous, so I'm just gonna go now.

My Favorite Things

Buenos dias, mis amigas y amigos!  No.  No need to adjust your monitor.  I was feeling a little Spanish-y this morning.  Why?  No idea.

Moving on.  I've had a couple people mention that they liked my initial Favorite Things post, so I decided it was time for another one!  And before I forget, I want to say how much I appreciate all the suggestions and "I wanna see more" comments on my giveaway.  I love it when I get comments (who doesn't?!)  and I especially love it when people take the time to actually read what I type and make comments specific to what I've written.  A BIG thank you to everybody who reads my blog.  I really appreciate it and I do my best to reply to every comment (unless you respond in a way that doesn't link to your email).  Oh, and if you have a blog that I don't follow, please let me know.  I'm always on the lookout for new reads.

These are a few of my favorite things.  And don't start singing that dang song because that is NOT one of my favorite things.  LOL 

A while back...a long time ago now, really...my Mom started quilting.  I love the idea of quilts, especially done by family, but don't have the patience or knowledge or time to take it up as a hobby.  So, I was super excited when my mom started quilting.  Between me, my hubs and my two boys, we have quite a few quilts (not to mention the crocheted and knitted blankets) and I love each and every one of them.  I'm going to show you two of them today.

Out of all my quilts, this is my favorite!  It's a queen-size quilt and fits perfectly on my bed.  I was the envy of all the girls at work when I opened the box it came in.  I love the colors (red, white and blue, of course), the design, the size.  It's perfect.  As soon as I got it home, I put it on the bed and it's been there ever since.

In case you're just joining me, I have this "thing" for red, white and blue.  This quilt is perfect because it's red, white and blue but it's more muted than the traditional color scheme.  I like the flag material because it reminds me of Colonial America.

I don't usually go for brown or yellow, but in this grouping, it works!  I don't know the technical term for this design, but I call it a star burst.  The white with the red flower design reminds me of cherry blossoms.

This is the back side of the quilt.  I know my mom always says that she's not very good at grouping colors, but I think she did a great job (I think she always does a great job - she's just too hard on herself).

I even like the border.  Some of these triangles remind me of bandannas.  See the red and blue stripes?  Yeah, those are all individually sewn together.

Every quilt she makes has a little personalized tag on it.  This one says: Made Especially for Megan.  Love, Mom Sept 2008.  Even the tag has stars on it!  LOVE!!

This is also on the top of the list of favorite quilts.  This is the second quilt my Mom made me.  See what I mean about red, white and blue?  LOL  This one is more of a traditional color grouping.  I'm not sure on the size of this one, but I think it's more technically a lap quilt.  However, it fits nicely on my son's single bed.

I really like the backing on this quilt.  Red, white and blue in flags!  PERFECT! 

Here's the tag for my quilt.  Celebrate life!  Made by: Mom.  On this date: July 2005 (appropriate, don't you think?).  For: Megan on her 29th b-day (8/23/05).  I can't imagine working on something like this during the Summer, but she does!

My fat cat Sol like my quilts, too.  He jumped up and got comfortable as soon as I put the quilt on the bed. 

I love all the quilts my Mom has made for me and my family.  I love that I'll have these forever and ever and will be able to eventually pass them down to my boys and their kids.  My Mom also has a blog, Stray Stitches, where she shares her quilt making expertise along with some great recipes (where do you think I get my kitchen skillz?).

Do you have anything that you treasure that's a family heirloom?  Some day I'll post a My Favorite Things from my boys' point of view (which will most definitely include a blanket or two).  Enjoy your Wednesday.  Only two more days til the weekend!!

Ewwww Toes!

Since I mentioned the mani I paired with my Orchids Are Gray? mani, I thought I'd follow through with that mention and post the pics tonight.  I thought I had prepped these pics.  I guess after a while all the pics kinda just run together.  So, if you're anti-mani, here's your chance to run away.  If not, here ya go!

This beautiful neon pink with blue/green flash is Color Club Electro Candy from the collection of the same name.  I picked this collection up at Ross also - it was the first one I saw and I let out a big *gasp* and snapped it up as soon as I saw it!  Ever since I saw this collection posted on Scrangie, I had to have it!

Since I had mouse gray on my fingers, I had to do something crazy on my toes.  Can't get much crazier than neon pink in November!  Remember once upon a time, I complained that I just don't like neon?  Yeah.  I take that back.  I just didn't have the right neon.  The better formula makes all the difference.

I wanted to jazz up the pedi a little, so I grabbed my tools.  A striping brush, lavender acrylic paint, silver glitter nail art paint and two lavender rhinestones later, this is what I came up with.  You know what's funny?  One of my patients came in with this exact same nail art on her nails today.  I didn't tell her I had the same design on my toes (let alone that I did it myself).  HA!!

I think that's enough toes for one night.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.  The hubs is at Planet Ego tonight, so I'm off to bed so I can hopefully catch some z's before he comes home and starts sawing logs.  Ah.  The joys of sleeping with a man who insists on sleeping on his back. *sigh*  LOL