randoms from last night & weeks to come.

Last night we hung out with this wonderful family. They will be our friends forever & ever. Literally.

Last night I served taco salads in real tostada shells. Did you know you can buy them for 25 cents a piece at El Pollo Loco? Amazing! Just have bowls of seasoned ground turkey, beans, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, lemons, lettuce, tomatoes, and salsa, and let everyone build their own. It's one of my new favorite ways to entertain.

This morning I feel weepy for old friends. I need good girlfriends so bad. To cry with, to laugh with, to dream with, to share clothes with, to, to, to...

Today I am going wedding flower picking-outing with Maddy. I love weddings and, more importantly, I love love.

Today I might buy this quilt with some money I received for Christmas. I know, I know, I recently got a new duvet cover, but that was a temporary fix. What do you think?

Tonight I am going to a knitting party, which is when I will learn how to knit once and for all. I can hardly wait...

Next weekend D, D & I are going on a little overnighter down in the Coronado area. I am so excited for a little getaway!

I still have 12 days of vacation before school starts up again. For my last. semester. ever.

I am really excited for 2011. I think it will absolutely be the best year yet.

Maddy & Kevin.

This is my friend Maddy. Isn't she just stunning?

I work with her fiance, Kevin, at the church & he shares the worship-leading job with Danny for the youth. I went with him last month to pick up her ring and I have never seen him so excited! The next week he played for me the song he wrote to propose to her with. I cried We had secretly been counting down until Thanksgiving, the proposal day. & (of course!) she said yes!!

The date has been set- July 30, which, in my opinion, is the best weekend ever to wed. I can't wait to celebrate with them!

I love these two very, very much. Cheers to you, my friends! Danny and I are so proud to call you our friends.

Did you have a merry Christmas?

Our weekend was so beautiful. I am very blessed and very grateful with such wonderful family and friends.

My favorite thing is that at the end of it all, I get to be at home with these two guys. I love my little family of 3.

Off to do some organizing and errand running! Happy monday, my friends.

2 favorites.

I am home sick. Again.

Luckily I called my doctor yesterday and asked begged him for some stronger antibiotics. Am ever so grateful that he gave me some, saving me from the rain, the waiting room, and the $25 co-pay. Hoping to feel better tomorrow, though that seems to be my daily motto for the last 2 weeks. Seriously, though. Tomorrow is the day. I can feel it.

Anyhow, I thought I would share my 2 favorite Christmas decorations. The first is a star I got at Ikea 3 or 4 years ago. It probably cost me $1.99 but it is my favorite. No lights or glitter, just a simple pin-wheel tree topper. It's perfect. I will never get rid of it.

And the stockings I bought at an after-Christmas Anthro sale. I believe they were $15 each. Cha-ching! I will never get rid of these, either, but I sometimes wonder what I will do when we need 3, 4, or even 5 stockings in our home. I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get there, won't we? Good thing I'm not a matchy-matchy kind of gal.

Christmas is in 2 days. (!) Tonight we plan to make hot chocolate, pack up the car with all the treats my students and co-workers have been piling on my desk, and drive through the neighborhood to admire all of these early 1900 homes decked out in Christmas bling. I can hardly wait.

PS I see you, little red line, but is bling really not in the dictionary yet?

on chewing.

This is how we spent our day yesterday. Me, lying on the couch with a blanket, a cup of coffee, and my book. Denver, standing by one of the open screens watching the rain outside. (Have I told you about our two side doors? They are one of my favorite details of the little blue house!)

Whenever we give Denver a bone we know he'll be distracted for the next 2-3 days. We always leave it in the living room when we go to sleep (he sleeps under our bed) or else he will stay up chewing it all night. Then, first thing in the morning, he'll whine until Danny lets him out. Instead of running to the backdoor to go outside like normal, he runs straight to the bone and gets back to chewing.

That's what I feel like with this book. I could have stayed up all night, eating through Italy and praying through India. Instead, I forced myself to sleep until this morning when I slowly chewed through each word again, savoring the spiritual journey of Elizabeth Gilbert. For now I've put it down to write this and venture to work. But tonight, oh tonight, I'll start chewing again.

Have you read Eat Pray Love yet? I can hardly wait to see the movie. (& with Julia Roberts! Oh, so perfect!)

I love winter break.

our little reindeer.

We bought Denver these as a treat for being so wonderful this season. He hasn't chewed our tree, broken our ornaments, or unwrapped our presents. Even though I have to vacuum daily to keep his hair out of, well, everything, he's totally worth it.

We love our little deer dear.

PS What we thought was a peanut butter allergy turned out to be pollen under his eyelid that has been irritating his eyes for weeks. He's now on perscription eye drops. The plus- pb kongs. The neg- sporting the cone of shame for a week while his poor little eyes recover.

sick day.

Oh, friends...I have been so sick.

Today is sick day #11 and even on antibiotics this little bug is taking its sweet time.

We've done a whole lot of lounging lately. It's been wonderful listening to the rain and being all cozy inside, instead of being in traffic and crowded shopping centers.

In other news, my weeknights are wide open this week. That means a whole lot of homemade meals. Be on the lookout for a couple of recipes this week!

Mondays are school days, so today I am a free woman. I am thinking of going to the library (which is right down the street, by the way!) to rent this book for pleasure reading (ah!) while I sip on a chai latte and watch the rain fall down. Then, I'll do some afternoon crafting and take my time making dinner for D & I. Sounds like the perfect day off to me.

Be back tomorrow. Hopefully with cleared nasal passages and without a nasty cough.

sick.

sick.

be back soon.

Christmas d.i.y. #5 (sort of).

Do you see what I see?

MarthaStewart.com has lots of cute downloadable name tags/place cards. If you haven't started your wrapping and are in need, there are lots of fun ones to choose from here. If you're done wrapping (lucky.) you can even use them as a way to distinguish glasses at your holiday party. I used them for mine & simply stamped them with names. Cute cute cute.

Happy wrapping!

I have 1 more d.i.y. but that will have to wait til next week. I woke up s.i.c.k. Not exactly the way I'd like to enter the busiest and most overwhelming study weekend of the semester. On the brighter side, after Monday night I'll be 1 semester short of my graduate degree. Oh, man...

Have a healthy weekend!

Christmas d.i.y. #4.

If it hasn't already started, there will be lots of Christmas cards coming your way. What better way to display them than with a few good old fashioned (& homemade!) refrigerator magnets?

This d.i.y. is brought to us by my life-long friend Amanda. She was the first pal I ever made back in Kindergarten and 20 years later, it is still an honor to call her friend.

What you'll need:
small round magnets
cardstock
clear glass flat-back marbles (think floral section)
magazine clippings
clear glue
tooth pick
scissors

paper towel

1. Trace magnet onto cardstock & cut out 1 per magnet.

2. Look through all your old magazines and find cute patterns/pictures/words. You'll be surprised at how many you'll be able to find! Trace magnet onto pattern & cut out 1 per magnet.

3. Put some glue on the corner of your paper towel and with toothpick apply to magnet. Cover with cardstock. Then, apply more on cardstock and cover with magazine clipping.

4. Now apply glue on the flat back of your marble. You'll want to use a tad bit more than what you used before. Place on top of magazine clipping side of magnet. Push down & make sure any air bubbles escape or you'll forever have little bubbles in your magnet.

5. Let dry for at least a good 3 hours. Make sure you give them each some space while drying...magnets like to hang out right next to each other (of course, that's why we love them!) and this can move them out of alignment.

6. Once dry and if needed, use scissors to clip around if you've got an overlay of paper. Clearly, I did not find the need to do this step until I took this picture.

That's all! Put in small bag to give to your best friend, mom, or sister...or keep for yourself!

2 years ago this week.

Last night Danny and I remembered that 2 years ago this week, we got engaged!

That was one of the best nights of our lives.

So, we went out for donuts to celebrate.

Remember these? Round 1 and 2 of our engagement story. Oh, how young we look. We both have much more hair these days...

Gee, I love my husband. These videos will forever make me smile. Silly kids!

Christmas d.i.y. #3.

There's nothing cuter than a little matryoshka for your tree.

This d.i.y. came from my friend Katie, which was inspired by this post.

I'll just let you venture on over there for all the directions. Don't be overwhelmed by this one- let it stretch you! The results are so worth it!

Thanks, Kate for the inspiration! (and for the help with my blanket stitch. ah.)

Christmas d.i.y. #2.

Everyone needs a cake stand. Or a cupcake stand. Or a place to keep jewelry. Or... (you get the idea.)

What you'll need:

-a plate

-a candlestick or vase

-strong glue

-masking tape

1. First, purchase your desired plate & stand. Please, please, please thrift your plate and stand, ok? Seriously. All together mine above cost $1.29.

2. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and get a strong glue. I got Gorilla Glue, mostly cause the label made me smile. But just make sure it works with glass/ceramic.

3. Line the top of your vase/candlestick with a thin layer of glue.

4. Put your plate facedown and center the glue-side of the candlestick with the plate. This step is foolproof- don't stress about it. The glue is forgiving and you've got time to make it perfect.

5. Use the masking tape to tape down the stick to the plate. This is just to make sure it doesn't budge.

6. Let it sit for about an hour.

7. Remove tape.

8. Enjoy!

Ta-da! The perfect little gift. & a great way to present your Christmas goodies.

i have cute friends.

This is Marc & Kara. Aren't they adorable? We had a blast shooting on Saturday.

I love them & their pup Daphne. We're both those we-don't-have-kids-yet-so-we're-crazy-about-our-dog people. I love it.

Also, have you heard of Moo? I just got my mini business cards today & couldn't be more pleased!

Christmas d.i.y. #1.

This week is inspired by a little party I had last Friday. I invited a few girlfriends and we all shared a craft/d.i.y. At the end of the night we were all full of Christmas music, great food, & had 5 unique gifts to take home. It was a blast!

So let's start simply, yes?

This homemade gift is easy-peasy. & I mean it.

You'll need:

-white sugar

-brown sugar

-olive oil

-mason jar

-scented oil (optional)

-cute paper or ribbon (optional)

1. In separate bowl, mix together1 C of each type of sugar.

2. Pour mixture into jar. You'll want to make sure your jar is pretty full. (You may want to use a funnel here, but I prefer to get sugar all over my table. It's totally up to you.)

3. Pour in a fair amount of oil. Set it aside as it drains down to the bottom. (I used this time to consume copious amounts of artichoke dip, but I suggest doing some squats or sit ups or something.)

4. When it sinks down, pour more. You'll want to do this until it looks like the oil has seeped throughout the whole jar.

5. Add your oil. I recommend vanilla or lavender. If you get some on your finger, don't lick it off. Trust me.

6. You can give it a little stir here.

7. Cut out a circle of cute paper. Or ribbon. Put on top of jar & screw on the lid.

8. Give away. Or keep for yourself. Whatever suits your fancy! (I did the latter.)

This d.i.y. comes from my sweet friend Kara.

My dry legs & I thank you.

oven love.

who knew a girl could fall in love with an appliance...

(ps...hip hip! welcome to bigger photos!)

Oh, Saturday, I love thee.

Hey.
Are you having a happy Saturday?
We sure are!

Today = coffee morning in bed, pancake breakfast, stove shopping (!), late afternoon photoshoot, and date night.
Yes please.

Have I told you that we're done Christmas shopping?! Well, we are. Boy does it feel good!

(How did I do it? I started in October...sheesh.)

Since I am done I feel like I can really enjoy December. Lots of crafting, singing, wrapping, and hopefully baking is on my to-do list.

Oh, and for those of you who still have a long shopping list:

(or if you just need to squeeze out a little creative juice)

This week yours truly will be posting a craft a day. 5 awesome gifts to make your homemade Christmas extra sweet, all inspired by some incredibly talented and creative friends of mine and me.

See you Monday for Christmas DIY #1. Until then, if you're like me, you'll be watching this video again & again. Two of my favorite voices collide = magic! (I love the truth in 2:05-2:08. Can anyone else relate?)

Happy weekend.

happy grandpa.

Have you ever seen a happier grandpa?

Pictures from Olson Family #2 photoshoot this weekend.

(Both photoshoots this weekend were Olson's with no relation. Fun!)

ps i believe it's time to figure out how to make pictures bigger...