Christmas Crafting

I did find some crafting time this morning. I feel like it has been a very long time since I've truly sat down to work on anything. I have several holiday ideas floating around in my head. Who knows if I'll get them all out! My sister requested I hold a Christmas Craft Day with her. That will be coming up in a few weeks and I think we will do a few of these projects so, Shelley - if you want to be surprised - no peeking!

I found plain plastic icicle shaped ornaments at the Dollar Tree. A box of 6 for $1! Some glitter, glue, and embellishment turn them into sparkly Christmas decor.

While I had the glitter out I glittered up an antique skeleton key and added some foof. I love the way the glitter gets a natural tarnish as time passes. The Happy Holidays postcard is by Vanessa Valencia.

Well I'm off to hit the books - a few more weeks left in my class and I'll have two grad courses down!

Happy Thanksgiving

With best wishes for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for a great many things but one that stands out - the wonderful blog friendships. Thank you to all of you.

Is Baby Bedding Really This Expensive?

Hubby and I have been on the search for bedding for our baby girl's nursery. I have a definite look and feel in mind and am not inclined to go for Disney Princesses or Winnie the Pooh (not that I don't love both - I just don't want it to be our nursery theme). We cannot find anything that even remotely matches our vision for under $400.00! This seems high to me for a simple four piece bedding set. Am I wrong? Since this is our first baby, we have no clue what reasonable pricing is or what we should expect to pay for nice bedding.

These photos show some of the bedding sets we really love. Most are in the $500.00 range!

We've gone to numerous stores and I've spent considerable time looking for a deal online to really no avail.

I found a few sellers on ebay that were asking more than the retail stores!

Please enlighten me - what is a good price to pay? Do you have any suggestions for quality baby bedding or where to find something that is a little different without being $500.00? Are there any good seamstresses out there? Help!

Isn't this cute?

My friend Judy sent me this adorable bag. I've been trying to be very good and use less plastic bags. Sometimes I forget but all in all I've drastically reduced the amount of disposable bags I use. Having cute canvas bags like this will make it easier!

Goodies

I came home from work the other day to a lovely surprise gift from Natalea! She sent this adorable Moonlight and Roses baby girl wall hanging. Natalea is such a sweetie. This will be perfect in the baby's nursery. Thanks Natalea!

This is the long overdue photo of the cover from Natalea's I Want Candy Swap. It was a collaborative book.

And this is a photo of the items I received from Ele's recent giveaway. Isn't the baby fork fabulous?

I also want to say a Happy Veterans Day to all of our veterans. Your sacrifice has not gone unnoticed.

Have a great day,

Natasha's Visit

After months of anticipation and waiting, it was time for Natasha to come for a visit! She spent two days with Jeff and me here in Connecticut. It was such a pleasure to have her here and we were both honored that she was able to make a CT stop. She is on such a whirlwind tour! We took her to Woodbury, the antiques capital of the state. Tons of stores but these are not the places where you can pick up a few things at bargain prices! We went into one store and saw a small hutch marked $23,000! It was still a lot of fun to browse and get inspiration for future projects.

Natasha brought us some adorable goodies. Here is some yummy soaps, a Thanksgiving towel (now I have two Thanksgiving decorations!), and a stuffed kangaroo for Baby Girl.

She brought Jeff a boomerang, pen and key chain set, and playing cards. She also brought Baby Girl some adorable onesies, and this cute as can be handmade koala hand puppet. I love her posts on her local lavender farm and she brought me some oh so indulgent foot soak - can't wait to give it a try!

Love vintage aprons and she brought two - in my favorite colors!


She also gave me this gorgeous necklace. She really spoiled us!

Jeff was playing Guitar Hero and Natasha was sneaking a peek.

Enjoying some yummy cheeseburgers and her first mozzarella sticks. I also brought her to historic Wooster Street for some authentic New Haven pizza and Italian pastries. Jeff made a gourmet lobster meal for dinner (even displaying the live lobsters to Natasha's horror!) and a yummy New England breakfast. My mom came over with an apple pie and chocolate chip cookies - we certainly were not hungry! My sister brought some lovely flowers.

Isn't she adorable? She is as delightful in person as she comes across on her blog. She is now off to visit with Heather and Karla before heading to Silver Bella. Can't wait to see all of the photos of her trip!

Inspirations

I thought I would share some of my favorite photos of two legends that inspire me, Grace Kelly and Frank Sinatra. I love Grace Kelly for her class, style, glamour, and timelessness. The above photo is one of my favorites as it shows some vulnerability and the fact that she was human, bags under her eyes and all!

Almost all of her photos are timeless but this one in particular looks like it could have been snapped just yesterday.

Of course, this famous glamorous pose is a fav. She has that don't mess with me look.

A casual walking down the streets of Monaco pose - don't we all look this great while running errands?

One of my favorite movies is High Society. I love the story and the songs but I really love the fact that both Grace and Frank starred. I've loved Frank Sinatra and his music for as long as I can remember. My mother thinks I may have a screw loose!

He has "it" that elusive star quality and energy. I would have loved to have seen him perform but never had the chance. I have gone to a few impersonation shows that have been almost like the real thing. I also had the chance (thanks to Jeff!) to attend the Sinatra tribute show that was put together by his family several years ago and was performed at Radio City Music Hall. It was an amazing experience. The show producers used some sort of computer technology to beam images of him onto the stage so it was almost like you were watching him perform live.

I love the way he changed as he got older. He went from a skinny guy to a more mature and handsome appearance.

I think this is my favorite photo of Sinatra. I even made it into a purse several years ago.

Who are some of your favorite legendary figures?

A Brand New Day

" We're starting up a brand new day. I'm thinking in a brand new way."
~ Sting

Election Day

It is such an exciting day! I plan to stay up tonight until we know who our next president is (okay - so I'll probably fall asleep on the couch but I'll still be putting in the effort!).

I'm A Little Behind

Well here is a shocker, I've fallen behind again! Thank you to everyone for your kind comments on baby girl. I'm getting through all of the e-mails and comments slowly. For those of you who have asked, no, we have not come up with a name yet. We might keep that part secret once we do and reveal it when she is born. We are thinking of picking a few names and then deciding once she is here. I say that now but who knows what we will actually end up doing!


Jeff and I did start looking at baby furniture and we are making a list and getting ready to register. I don't know how you gals do this! I'm so overwhelmed with all the choices and gadgets and baby this and that on the market. I have consulted with a few friends that have already been through this process as well as the highly recommended Baby Bargains book so I think we are in fairly good shape. We don't have a large house and I hate clutter so we are trying to be realistic about what we will actually need and not fall for all of the things that look great but end up sitting around collecting dust.


Lots of other things going on as well. I finished up my first graduate level class - I'm in an online program that splits each semester into two seven week sessions so you take two classes a semester but only one class at a time. This sounds easy enough but I wasn't prepared for the amount of work one class would hold! I'm very happy to report that I got an A in my first course. Yay! I've just started the second and so far it seems like the workload is higher than the first, hence some of the reason I'm so behind in other areas of my life! I'm taking this one course at a time - I'd like to get one more in before the baby comes and then see how things work out.


I haven't had a change to take photos yet but I want to thank Natalea for hosting her first swap. It was a collaborative book entitled I Want Candy. So fun and the book is absolutely darling and now holds a special place in my craft area.


I also just received a fun giveaway prize from Ele. She sent a darling beaded baby fork, some adorable cards, and a hankie. Thanks Ele!


I'm very proud of my little sister. She ran her first half marathon a few weeks ago.

This is the arch that marked the finish line.

And this is Shelley celebrating her finish by kissing her medal. Now she says she wants to run a marathon. More power to her! I don't even think I can run a mile!

This isn't the greatest photo but I had to take it from the window or Margot would have beat a hasty retreat (she hates the camera!). She loves to hang out in the backyard and watch whatever Jeff is doing - in this photo he was picking up leaves. Its so funny, she will just stay there forever and watch his every move.

And I'm beyond excited that this lovely lady will be popping in later this week. She will be making a stop in Connecticut during her whirlwind USA tour and on her way to this event that I wish I could be at too! Check out her blog to see where she has been so far. By the time she is through I think she will have seen more of the US than I have!

Toodle loo for now,