I'm outta here

hopefully! My flight is scheduled for tomorrow morning but we are in the midst of a giant snow storm. Mike's flight today has already been canceled. I've been like a crazy person all morning trying to get our travel plans sorted out. If all goes well, I will be in North Carolina by late tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed! I'm spending the holidays at my parent's cabin in the Smoky Mountains. I will try to post while I'm there but my mom has already warned me that the air card for the laptop works but the connection is really slow. I'll do my best to keep you guys updated with all the crafting and baking we plan to do! Wishing everyone a very happy holiday and safe new year! I'll be back in NYC after the New Year!

Photo: Me

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Our first snow of the season...I love it! Now it's starting to feel like Christmas.

Photo: Gothamist.com

I'm almost finished with the quilt. I have it all pieced together and now all I have to do is baste and bind it. I'm proud of myself considering this was my first quilt. It was not very forgiving and there are a couple of minor things that just couldn't be fixed...believe me I tried! Luckily they don't really stand out and I'm really happy with the results. I'll post a picture of the finished product soon!

Putting the color wheel together...

My little helper...

The front is complete!

More holiday crafting

Purl bee has a week's worth of Christmas projects on their blog. These will go great with the soft trees I posted about yesterday. I'll be indoors all weekend working on the quilt, drinking tea, listening to Christmas music, and spending time with Mike before we go our separate ways next weekend for the holidays.
I laid out the colors for the color wheel last night, I love the way it looks. I can't wait to start piecing it all together. Hopefully I will have a finished quilt to show you on Monday (fingers crossed)!

Photos: Purl Bee

Christmas craft project

I love these Christmas tree softies, a fun and easy craft project for the weekend! Pattern available here.

Photos: Stephanie Congdon Barnes

Quilt update

So remember how I blogged about that quilt I'm making for my mom for Christmas. So much for trying to get an early start on making it. I leave next week for my vacation and I'm still not done cutting all the pieces. I'm hoping that the cutting will be the hardest part. All those pieces for the wheel are quite tedious to cut but from the looks of it, piecing it together shouldn't be too difficult, says the girl who's never made a quilt before!

On other gift fronts, Mike's parent's gifts are done, yay! I can't tell you what they are because his mom reads this blog but I'm very happy with their gift and I will share it here after the holidays! I want to make some homemade goodies for the people at work but the quilt is going to have to take priority. I have the feeling I'm going to be up to my ears in batting all weekend. I'm so behind, I wanted to get soap made too since my inventory is running dangerously low but I haven't had the time...of course, the story of my life!!

Peewee

Even Peewee has started reading the Twilight series...

Daily dose of cuteness

How adorable is this little clutch! I can never resist anything that has dachshunds on it!

Photo: Field of Roses

Just for Fun...

Highlight the things you have done

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Flying off the shelves...

well kind of. My dog soaps have been doing pretty well since the feature in Bark Magazine. I've had a couple of large orders come through because of it, which I am grateful for. It has given me the motivation I need to get back into making soaps. The Christmas season has been slow but I know I am partly to blame for that. Your business is what you put into it and since I've been back from Alaska I haven't been putting much into it. I'm just hoping I don't lose this momentum after the holidays like I did last year!

I have a lot of ideas floating around my head that I am hoping to implement after the first of the year. I am more motivated than ever to make this little business of mine successful. I am eager to get away from the corporate world someday, it just really isn't right for me and I am feeling it more and more every day. I need a creative outlet that I just don't get from sitting at a desk in front of a computer for 8+ hours a day....

Post holiday blues...

My future in-laws left Saturday. I was sad to see them go...Mike and I are spending Christmas apart this year (I'm headed to North Carolina, he's going back home to Florida) so I won't see them until January when I head to down for my best friend's birth.

So now I have those horrible post-holiday blues....which I usually don't get until January. I hate saying goodbye to family. Despite how many times Mike and I have done it since we moved to New York, it never gets easier. For now, I'll just curl up on my couch with a cup of tea and look forward to the two weeks I will get to spend with my mom over Christmas. I can't wait, it's going to be a whirlwind I'm sure, our days are already booked with crafting, baking, massages, yoga, and wedding planning. My head is spinning just thinking about it....I can't wait!

Flickr Photo