Happy New Years Eve!

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I am spending today with Cory and his family as his sister, Meghan, prepares for her wedding! We are all overjoyed and really looking forward to the ceremony where she will become Sam's wife. Although Meghan grew up attending church, she wasn't comfortable getting married in a church; instead they are getting married in a reception facility and Cory (!) is marrying them! My job is to make sure the ceremony goes off as planned and everyone has their timing right and then to party the night away with family and friends! I'm really looking forward to everything that this night will bring!

I hope you have a fabulous New Years Eve! See you in 2011!

xo,

Liz

NYE eve!

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Good morning!

I'm feeling a bit better today--but still pretty fatigued. I have a lot to finish up today before we can head to Meghan's rehersal dinner tonight.

To Do List:
-finish cowls & deliver them to The Muse
-snap photos of new Spring '11 items
-finally tackle the office and make it pretty.

We have to head out of town later this afternoon and won't be back until Saturday afternoon at the earliest. We may be heading back out of town Saturday evening for a nice little Taco & Game Night w/my mother's family. It sounds like loads of fun, and I really want to go, but geez this break has been BUSY. (Last night was only the 2nd evening I have spent in my own bed this entire winter break. Crazy! We have been traveling so, so much!) I have a million pictures of this break to post--but I need to upload them to the new computer and figure out my Photoshop software and la la la, lots to do.

I hope you're having a great day and are getting excited about 2011!

I've got the sniffles.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather...

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.....and looking a little green

 

To those of you whom are childcare providers during the day (away from home), do you find that you get sick whenever you are on a holiday break or at least a small time away? I'm beginning to wonder if my high school students are actually the crux of my immune system. As you know, Cory and I have been in Reston, VA for the last few evenings, and upon our arrive on Monday, I realized that I had the sniffles. Just the occasional sneeze or blowing of the nose, not anything to fuss about. And then I woke up yesterday moroning. Full fledged cold. ugh!

If you remember back to Thanksgiving, I had the flu for about a week and had to stay home from my Myrtle Beach vacation. Now, it's the middle of winter break, and I had to miss out on the Maryland vs. ECU game today, because of this horrible headcold that I am suffering from. Fortunately, my husband is extremely understanding of when I do not feel well--so he didn't seem to make a huge fuss about missing the game either. It was really nice to feel so supported by him (which is frequent--just incase you're reading this, honey).

In other news, I need to find some energy to go out shopping this afternoon. I am in need of a little black dress or something cute and fun for Meghan's wedding on Friday. I am getting SO excited for this celebration! If nothing else, I'll hit up a few boutiques (like Sky's the Limit) downtown for a nice little outfit and then the grocery store for some OJ and major cold relief items.

Okay, I'm going to rest up a bit more and then head out. If you see my immune system, tell her I need to come home, pronto!

Vintage Greetings

I have been doing a lot of thinking as to why I'm such a big fan of the winter holidays. Obviously, I enjoy the quality time with my family and friends, but I think there is something about it that really gets me a little deeper than that.

I truly love how the winter holidays embrace both the old and the new.

I really do love how the winter holidays focus on bringing together traditions of yesterday with toys of today. I love that people are taking the time to use their vintage trees or ornaments that have been passed down to them or remind them of memories form years ago. 

 For me, I love that people take the time during this season to watch old movies, cuddle inside their homes, break out old recipes, and not worry about the latest and greatest or modern-day drama. I'm sure there are people out there who do that, but I would like to think that the people I surround myself with during this time aren't included in that group.

In light of this little thought, I did a little research on vintage holiday greetings and thought I would share them with you! They range from the early 1900s to the 1970s. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

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Twinkie Chan's Popcorn Garland Tutorial

Hey there! I know many of us received Twinkie Chan's new book Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies from Santa (and I LOVE it!), but I just hopped over to her blog and found that she has a FREE tutorial for Popcorn Garland up until New Years! Talk about the perfect thing to crochet for a carnival themed party this year or for anyone who tends to be particularly fond of popcorn. There are a million ways you could use this besides on your Christmas tree (for next year). Anyway, I wanted to share the love, so hop on over to Twinkie's blargh and check out this fun and super easy tutorial! :)

Don't forget--you only have until Saturday to snag it!

I showed this to my Mr. last night and he was pretty excited about the thought of having popcorn on our tree next year! Hooray!

xo,

Liz

Finishing 2010

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Good morning, folks!

I wanted to pop in and explain why I may not be around blogland much this week.

Tonight, me and the Mr. are volunteering with my parents at a local homeless shelter. My parents are extremely involved in our community and volunteer for a variety of charities and services, so we try to help out as much as we can, too.

After working at the shelter, we may be heading down to northern Virginia to catch up with two of our closest friends for a few nights. We visited Rich and Beth in VA last year and had such a great time, we decided to make it a tradition! If we dont head down tonight, we will be heading down very early tomorrow morning. Either way, our days will be spent going through Reston, maybe doing a little shopping, cooking delicious dinners, playing fun games, and me probably re-teaching Beth how to crochet :)

Wednesday brings the Maryland vs. Eastern Carolina University bowl game in Baltimore at the Ravens stadium. The boys are very excited to be able to attend a bowl game and salute UMDs coach off since this is his last game. Who knows what Wednesday night will bring, but we need to make it back home early Thursday as it is the first day of a lot of preparation for Meghan's wedding!

As you can see, I have a lot of fun going on to keep me busy this week. The good news is that I'm going to take along my brand new laptop that I just bought yesterday to play with it's webcam, so I'm sure I'll have loads of pictures for you!

Without further adieu, I'm going to watching one last Christmas movie, crochet a little, pack a little, and enjoy my quiet day at home :)

How are you spending your last days of 2010?

I hope you're spending time with people you love or at least doing something that you love!

xo,

Liz

Happy Boxing Day!?

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Okay, okay. My husband is half English (his mother came from northern England when she was a teenager), and today, as we were enjoying one another's company in the peace and quiet of our favorite sushi joint for dinner, Cory explained to me the explanation of Boxing Day.

Is it true that Boxing Day is celebrated by putting away all your Christmas boxes?!

I really didn't believe Cory, because the notion seems a little silly, but I just nodded along as my husband is filled with a whole bunch of little teeny, tiny, "why would anyone know that" facts.

Do you know about Boxing Day? Do you know the real story? Or is my husband being truthful ;).

Anyway--Boxing Day has had me a bit perplexed, but other than that, our Christmas was wonderful and relaxing. We enjoyed a lovely 3-day holiday with every part of our families. It was a great way to spend our first Christmas as husband and wife together!

I'll be back later with Christmas photos later :)

xo,

Liz

Merry Christmas!

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From me to you, Merry Christmas.

I hope you enjoy the day, however you may choose to spend it.

Happy Christmas Eve!

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xo,

Liz

Merry Christmas Eve eve!

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Greetings everyone! Today is my first official day of winter break. We don't return to school until January 3rd. I am so excited for this much needed break. We already have quiet a bit of events planned throughout the next week and a half, but it will be fun to stay busy and active and make the most of our time.

Today we're running around as Santa's elves trying to finish up our super last-minute shopping. A lot of it is easy shopping, but I do have a little crocheting to do as well. I finally have an appointment with an oral surgeon this afternoon to have him check on my dag-on wisdom teeth. They need to be removed asap. Hopefully I won't have to suffer much longer!

Tomorrow we're babysitting our niece, Sloane, while Meghan (her mother, Cory's sister) is at work. After our little babysitting adventure, I'll be busy baking at my Mom's house for our Christmas Eve festivities. We'll get ready, go to church, open presents with Mom's side of the family at Mom's house, go to midnight service with Cory's grandmother, and make our way back to Mom's house for the night. We'll wake up early Christmas morning to the sweet smell of cinnamon rolls, exchange presents, and wake up slowly watching "A Christmas Story" and enjoy our long morning with each other. Later Christmas afternoon, we'll make our way to Cory's parents house, enjoy the afternoon and then head to Meghan's for Christmas dinner. It should be a day of fun family time. We'll be staying in that neck of the woods for a few days as we are visiting with my father the day after Christmas and then volunteering at the Cold Weather Homeless Shelter the day after that.

The week between Christmas and New Years will be us preparing for Meghan & Sam's wedding on New Years Eve (yay!!) and enjoying some time off with other teacher friends. I have a feeling we'll catch a few football games and drink a few beverages throughout the week as well.

Long story short--I'm really looking forward to all the holiday time with family and friends.

Do you have your plans set in stone yet? Are you keeping busy or laying low?

xo,

Liz

Crocheted Bookmark DIY

I was searching high and low for a quick crocheted gift I could whip up for the 12 English teachers I work with and a few others that I will be giving gifts to this year. Needless to say, finding a gender neutral gift is pretty hard in the crocheted world, so I decided to come up with my very own pattern for a bookmark. I decided to use my favorite shell stitch, since it is so pretty, but also so quick and easy! This is also a great way to use up your last bit of sock yarn or crochet thread!

Bookmark Supplies:
size 2 or 2.25mm crochet hook (or any hook that fits your gauge)
fingering weight yarn (can also use size 3 crochet thread)

Packaging Supplies:
cardstock
festive yarn/ribbon

Bookmark Pattern:
abbreviations:
ch = chain
dc = double crochet
st = stitch

Here you go!
chain 13.
Row 1: DC in 4th ch from hook. DC in next ch. Skip 2 ch. 5 DC in next ch. Skip 2 ch. DC in next 3 ch. Ch 3. Turn
Row 2: 5 DC in first stitch. skip 2 st. DC in next 2 sts. skip 2 st. 5 DC in next st. DC in last st (3rd turning ch from previous row). Ch 3. Turn.
Row 3:  Skip first 2 st. DC in next 2 sts. Skip 2 st. 5 DC in nexst st. Skip 2 st. DC in next 2 sts. sk 2 st. DC in last st of row.
Row 4-17: Repeat Rows 2 & 3.

(Note:I made mine about 5 inches long. You can make it your desired length!)

To Package:
I printed a personal message on strips of cardstock, cut them down, and punched two small holes near the top. I used festive yarn to wrap around the back, come through the holes, and tie a bow on the front of the bookmark to secure it. You could also wrap this in a bracelet jewelry box, if you have an extra lying around.

If you make any of these bookmarks, please take pictures and post them online (leave me a link in the comments)! I would love to see your final products!  

Happy Holidays!

Need a quick last minute gift?

Check back tomorrow morning for a quick little Christmas DIY (I promise under an hour for the product AND the wrapping!) that is perfect for nearly anyone (or everyone) on your list. It's also the PERFECT host/hostess gift!

What you'll need:

-2.25mm crochet hook (or really any size)

-fingering weight yarn or size 3 crochet thread

See ya in the morning :)

Banksy & Street Art

Cory and I were strolling through Netflix on demand and stumbled across the documentary, "Exit Through the Gift Shop." This documentary is created by an annonymous, British, subversive street artist named Banksy. Here's a look at his work:

Long story short, this documentary is pretty cool and is a must see for anyone who appreciates modern and pop art in any way. It highlights a man who Banksy met through friends who was simply recording their production of street art, but decided to become a street artist himself. Except he wanted to be a street artist times a million, so he turns himself into Mr. Brainwash. It's really incredible. Here's an article from the New York Times in the spring reviewing the documentary.

Here is some of Mr. Brainwash's work:

To be perfectly honest, I feel about this documentary exactly how I felt about the series finale of "The Hills." It's all about your perception of reality. I believe your perception of reality has a lot to do with your perception of art.

Find "Exit Through the Gift Shop" on Netflix, online, or some other resource.

Let me know what you think about Mr. Brainwash and Banksy.

(Maybe if I'm lucky, some of you whom live in LA might have even attended his gallary show "Life is Beautiful."

Is it art? Is Mr. Brainwash respectable, or do you feel as if he violated the concept?

Down to the Wire

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Oh, I feel ya, Charlie Brown. We have just 4 days until Christmas and I am pushing it to the limit! I still have 2 orders to make and give to people in Frederick, finish up my crocheted gifts for my department members, fill out a million Christmas cards, wrap loads of presents, and you know... enjoy the season. It's going to be a busy few days as I finish up school for 2010 and the holiday festivities begin. I have to say, amidst all the holiday hublub, I am getting really excited for the next few weeks.

We're also looking forward to a white Christmas, too! We still have snow on the ground from last week (I kid you not, we haven't reached above 38 degrees in WEEKS), but it's calling for at least a few inches Saturday and Sunday. A nice little way to make the weekend even cozier :)

Well, I must run and get my crochet on....and watch Charlie Brown.

Happy Monday!

Pretty Things..

My life involves a lot of yarn. This should be no surprise to you. Most of my Christmas gifts, if they aren't made with yarn, they're surely wrapped with yarn. I love having the various colors around my home (Cory would probably say that it consumes our home) and being able to let my mind run wild with ideas. I wanted to share some of the photos that most inspire me when it comes to yarn:

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The Act of Buying Yarn.

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My sweet friend from college, Audie, sent me a lovely birthday gift from Knit Picks, an online yarn supplier. She sent me 5 beautiful colors of fingering weight yarn, and I was pretty impressed with the selection and quality. So now, I am curious about yarn shopping online.

Have you shopped for yarn online?

Where do you shop? What kind of deals are there?

Any suppliers better than others?

Tell me your story!

I want to learn about shopping for yarn online!

pretty snow

Even though it snowed a few days ago, the air has been below freezing most days, so the snow hasn't melted and is allowing the area to glow.

Here are some pretty photos of snow:

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