My 2011 List

This is not a resolutions post.  There are of course things I hope to improve or change, but that is not for this post. 

I have an incredibly long list of books I want to read on my IPhone, a stack of free paperbacks picked up from a local warehouse under my coffee table, two unread titles on my reader and lots of recommendations from other bloggers' 2011 reviews. 

Since I have so many titles I would love to dive into, but it won't be possible to to read them all (this year) unless I quit my job to do so (an option I don't think would be warmly received by my husband) I figured I should to narrow down THE LIST.  Here a few I want to check off my list in the first few months of 2012. 
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The Necklace.  This is a true story about  thirteen women who go in together to buy an expensive necklace and share its beauty.  Each chapter is told by a different woman, sharing their experience while wearing the necklace.  I call it the grown up version of  The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  It is short, should be a quick read. 

 

  Venus Fixers An art/historical fiction mix.  During WW II the Allied forces appoint Monument Officers (a hodge podge group of people with varying background in art and history) to make sure that European masterpieces are not damaged or stolen.  The story chronicles the group's struggles to protect the art.  I picked this up when I was visiting my grandparents in Florida.  Their local library sells books for a $1, this one looked too god not grab.   

Winter Garden-I have been told to read this by several people.  A story about two sisters who return home to help care for their dying father.  The sisters have lived very different lives and their mother is distant.  Before the father passes he asks his wife to share a story with the sisters.  A story that bridges the past and present, and supposedly changes who the women considered themselves to be.  The reviews on the back include words like, "gripping", "powerful story" and "breathtaking" so I am very excited about this one. 

Revenge of the Middle-Aged Woman -Years after giving her all to her job, kids and husband Rose Lloyd is suddenly starting over.   This book chronicles Rose's journey with her new found freedom.

 The Good Wife Strikes Back-this one is by the same author as the book above, Elizabeth Buchan.  In this story Fanny Savage considers leaving her current life to pursue the one she gave up years ago (a partner in her father's wine business in Italy).  Both of these look like fluff reads, but still should be entertaining. 

 A Year in Provence-This is a true story of what the author, Peter Mayle experienced when he and his wife moved into a 200 year old farmhouse in a little country called Luberon.  I can't wait to read this one, I think it's going to be quite the story.

Do you have some "to reads" for 2012?  Anything I should add to my ever growing list?

Birthday Celebration

December 27th marked the start of my 31st year! 

Wow, it's almost hard to believe!  Thirty seemed like such a big milestone but I almost feel as if this is where the REAL journey begins.  I have lots of hopes of what the next few years will have have in store. 

I started off the day by putting on a new tunic top from H&M and my favorite scarf.  I made a quick run to Starbucks for a Gingerbread Latte (yum!) and then curled up on the couch with my current book.  By the way, this book is great!  If you have the opportunity to read the Piano Teacher (and enjoy historical fiction) you will not be disappointed. 

I went out to breakfast with a great friend, she gifted me these adorable owl salt and pepper shakers! Then, we did some shopping at Kohls.  I scored this pretty necklace with my Kohls cash :)



I had lunch with my mom, dad and brother.  Obviously the theme of this birthday was eat as much as possible ;)  My dad, brother and myself were all lucky enough to be off work. My mom wasn't, so we met her there.  When I looked down at my phone to see what time it was I happened to catch the time and date on my phone (12:27 on 12/27).  This coincidence made me smile (then laugh at my silliness). 

We had a family picture, but it was less than flattering, such a shame :(  The owners of the pizza place we went to know (and love) my parents, so they gave me a cannoli at the end of our meal, so sweet!  It was delicious! 

Later on I read birthday mail from my extended family and opened gifts from my parents and brother.  I was more than spoiled and am so grateful for all of my nice gifts!  I fell in love with Le Mer watches after reading about them on http://www.keepingupwithkellyandco.com The Coach purse was from my brother (my mom helped him pick it out). 

  The birthday celebration ended with a dinner out on Friday night with the family, hubby and a good family friend.  We went to a fondue restaurant called The Melting Pot.  I had never been before and I was so amazed!  The service, the food, the presentation; it was all fabulous!



Birthdays are always a big deal in my family.  My mom always planned fun parties and made sure we had special dinners.  I love that even though we are older and busy with our individual lives, we still make time to celebrate all of birthdays together in a fun way. 



Pinterest Inspired Projects

Holiday time was the perfect opportunity to create some Pinterest inspired projects/gifts! 

First up, I saw this on http://www.iowagirleats.com/ (one of her Friday Favorite finds).  You thread three different sizes of ornaments onto a knitting needle, largest on bottom and smallest on top.  Yep,that's all it is!

And here is my version:

Not sure I love how it turned out, but the hostess who I gifted it to did.  She said she had eyed one on Pinterest and really liked it.  I think with some garland around the bottom it will look better.  The ornaments cost $10 (three packages of varying sizes) and one knitting needle (purchased in a package of two for $3). 

Moving on, the next project was for my goddaughter.  I saw this and knew I wanted to create a headband/bow/brush caddy for all of her cute hair accessories.  This is not the original one I saw, but I can't find my pin right now :( 

So I gathered all of my supplies-Oatmeal container, Modge Podge (which looking back, I could have done without), rubber cement, sponge brush, fabric (I changed my mind after this picture was taken),  a pair of scissors, ruler, 2 kinds of ribbon (one not pictured) and printer paper (not pictured).  I didn't buy one single thing for this project.  I had everything I needed, I love when that happens!

First, I covered the the container in printer paper (to hide the writing) and then fabric.  I used rubber cement for both of these steps, but you could use Modge Podge. 

Next up, I covered the fabric in Modge Podge to coat it.  I don't think it made much of a difference (this is why I said looking back, I would have skipped this step). 

After that, I spaced out skinny purple ribbon around half of the container for clips to be placed on.  I hot glued the ribbon at the top, middle and bottom.  This secured the ribbon and allowed some areas to be lifted up for the clips to attach.  Then, I hot glued the white ribbon around the top and bottom edges.

The final step, was to decorate the top and add some bows!

This was an easy project that took about 20 minutes froms start to finish. 

The next pinspired project was chalkboard serving plates.  I saw these wine glasses and thought they were too cute! 

The friend I thought of when I saw these is not a wine drinker so I wanted to make something else she could use when she entertains or goes to her bunco group. 

Sorry, no picture of the supplies before starting.  I bought two large plates at Ikea for $8 a piece, a bottle of Martha Stewart chalkboard paint from Michael's for $7 and I already had a sponge brush.  First, I taped off the center and then got to painting.  The bottle says to paint one coat and then wait an hour before applying a second.  After your two coats are applied, you have to wait 24 hours for the paint to set.  I followed these directions exactly and it worked out perfectly. 

Once I took off the tape it looked pretty good :)  Sorry for the blurry picture.

I repeated the process with the second plate, cured the plates by lightly running a stick of white chalk sideways around the painted edges, then wiping it off with a damp towel and then packed them up.  I found these appetizer recipe cards at SteinMart and knew they would be pefect with the plates.  I added some chalk and this gift was ready to go!

Maybe I can fix my camera and pick up my work area next time so you can have some decent pictures to look at. 

The last pinspired project was an edible one, yum!  I saw this:

And knew it would be pefect to bring to my mother-in-law's house for our Christmas Eve get together.  I stocked up on veggies and created this one:

The veggie Christams tree was a big hit with my MIL's delicous dill dip!

Those are my Pinterest projects, have you been crafting/baking/making lately?

 

Vintage Shopping (Alternative Title-The First Real Post With Pictures)

One of the goals for my time off of school was to hit up some places that I have never been.  So yesterday my mom and I headed to Deep Ellum (downtown Dallas area) to visit Lula B's. 

This is a vintage shop chock FULL of knick nacks, clothes, furniture, pictures and more.  Lots more!  I saw some really cool pieces and then I saw a lot to make you go, hmmmmmmm.  As soon as we walked in I spied this sign which I fell in love with.

If you can collect it this store had it.  Anyone need some dishes or perhaps a radio?



I stumbled upon a tiny booth (barely big enough for me to fit in) that had bins, buckets and boxes full of old black and white photos.  There must have been hundreds of pictures.  It was fascinating to flip through snapshots of people's lives.  I was trying to think of something I could do with these when my mom suggested cards.  Perfect!  Too bad she suggested it after we left the store.  Guess that means I will have to go back to the store, darn :)





I came home with this little guy.  I don't know how I grew so fond of roosters, but they have been slowly taking over my kitchen for the last seven years.  I am hoping since he's small and translucent maybe the hubs won't notice him ;) 

Since vintage browsing/shopping can work up an appetite we went to the Mad Hatter Cafe.  I had read good things, it was ok.  Not bad, but not what I hoped for.  They had a cute Alice in Wonderland theme going on and they had lots of vegetarian options so that was neat.

Since the day was still early we ventured into another funky area of Dallas, the Bishop Arts District.  One of my favorite places down there is a micro botique called Indie Genius.  It is in a warehouse and broken up in lots of different stalls with wares all made by local artists.  I have bought lots of gifts there before and I always admire the uniqueness of the things inside. 

All in all, the day was a success and we had a blast.  Now, I am off to continue checking things off the list!



Jumping in with both feet

After admiring dozens of creative and witty bloggeres share their lives, recipes and crafts I figured I would try and do the same.  Although I will never measure up to some of the lovely ladies whose blogs I read (stalk) on a regular basis I am ready to give this the ol' college try. 

One of the high points for every teacher is the well deserved WINTER BREAK!  I have a mile long list of Pinterest inspired projects to complete, two books I want to finish reading, long ago played in the theater movies I hope to watch and lots of lunch dates to look forward to.  In addition the all the items listed above I hope to clean, organize and entertain.  Oh, if time allows I might relax ;) 

Even if no one ever reads this little slice of the blog world I will have a record of the projects I tried (and hopefully completed sucessfuly), recipes I experimented with and adventures I had along the way!