Last Minute Crafty

As a crafty person, I get excited when there are new things to make or when I get requests for things that I haven't thought of making before.  However, I also get stressed when things are thrown at me last minute - things that need to get done in a short timeframe, which means these new projects will usurp the ideas I had to craft.  

Such as when your boss decides to quit (not a surprise - she did that last week) and decides that she'll be taking everyone out tomorrow for a good bye lunch.  This means you'll need a cake - something you were planning to make for Friday - a card (also planned for Friday) and flowers for tomorrow.

Then someone you haven't talked to in about a year, decides she really needs you to make her a card for her kid's soccer coach.  While all of these things are lovely, and not even that much work, I wasn't super interested in doing them all in one evening after working the full day.  However, somehow, the craft and baking gods decided to conspire in my favor for a change.  The cake turned out beautifully - so delish looking! - and I'm very happy with both cards.  Aside from skipping my own personal Christmas crafting, the evening went pretty smoothly.  

Now I can head off to bed while visions of paper crafting dance in my head ; )

Sunday Life

After a terrible, horrible no good, very bad football game - a loss to the Dolphins!? - I'm choosing to look on the bright side.  The house is decorated.  Two Christmas trees are up and sparkling.  And 6 different types of cookies were made by the cookie master - and they also taste delicious!  That's what I want to focus on. Not the sad Ravens game.  Not that the Ravens are 4 - 8 for the first time ever.  And not that they lost to one of the worst teams in the league.  

Christmas is coming and Christmas is by far my most favorite season.  There's so much more to be done - so much so that I'm sort of sticking my head in my sand about it.  But it's still fabulous.  It's sparkly and twinkly and I just love everything about it!  

Here's to Christmas and not so much to the Ravens! 

Cookies!

My most favorite part of Christmas is Cookie Time!  In this house, we tend to go a little over board and make about a dozen different kinds.  We usually go with what we know - Chocolate Chip & Peanut Butter which are the well-known recipes.  Then we have Ginger Molasses and Mandel Brot which are not so well known.  Then we have secret family recipes for Sugar Cookies - 2 different kinds!

Then thanks to Pinterest, we found a few extras.  I'm pretty sure they're going to be keepers. Not as yummy as the our usual, but quite delish!

First up, Coconut Dream cookies from Add a Pinch.  I love me some coconut, and add in chocolate chips, and I'm in heaven.  It's basically a Mounds in cookie form.

Then we had Chocolate Crinkle Cookies from Sally's Baking Addiction.  These were supposed to be a cookie I ate a few years ago and have never been able to find in recipe form. They were not.  But they were yummy.  Very, Very chocolaty and very, very yummy!

Friday Five

1. One of the best parts of Christmas, is seeing the creative and clever ideas businesses come up with for their store windows.  I found this one last night in Annapolis for the Sperry store - a company that sells boat shoes and other types of sandals.  So cute!

2. I'm the type of scrapbooker that usually tends to find all of my supplies at Michael's or AC Moore.  But the more I Pinterest the more I see all sorts of amazing supplies that can't be found in stores.  That's how I discovered StudioCalico.com.  I've been seeing and coveting some amazing journal cards and stamps (those seem to be my obsession right now) in layouts and projects for the last few months and finally determined they were made by Studio Calico.  It would seem that I discovered it just in time - seeing as it was Black Friday Sale time.  I've received 2 awesome packages this week full of all sorts of goodies that I just can't wait to use!

3. Heehee!  I shouldn't find this as funny as I do, but it's hard not to laugh at someone falling off their high horse (pun intended!)  I don't like cocky and Brady has that particular personality trait in spades.  I'm sorry for his team mates, that they aren't getting their perfect season, but I'm pretty happy Brady isn't!

4. I'm always in love with Supernatural, but this week's particular brand of crazy, ridiculous and heart-warming made it into my list of all time favorite episodes.  If it's not your thing, I totally understand, but if you don't watch this clip and laugh, then you truly don't get funny! (Word of warning - it's slightly gory, but gory in a sparkly kind of way... : )
             
5. This is the cutest baby ever!  I think we may have all had a day like she's having...

Midnight Madness

For the last few years, Downtown Annapolis has been having Midnight Madness festivities in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  All the stores stay open late.  There are carolers and bands playing.  There's even hot cocoa and cookies being out.  There are also, usually, lights on all the boats but this year they're rebuilding the sea wall so it was a little lacking. 

Now Annapolis is usually one of my favorite places for the other 11 months of the year, but at Christmas time, with all the lights twinkling, it's even better!  Of course, the free chocolate helps with those feelings too... 

 Apparently, I had so much fun, I even sparkled...

Invasion of the Snowheads

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is the invasion of the snowheads - otherwise known as decorating the Christmas tree.  For some unknown - and probably not at all exciting - reason, I have a thing for snow heads.  You wouldn't think that there was much market for just the heads of snowmen, but apparently there is. Because I can always find new and exciting ones.  

And thankfully, when I can't find ones I like, my friends make me some.  Some of the ones I've gotten are Sherlock, Neal Caffrey and The Doctor.  How perfect is that!?  Even the Ravens have gotten on the tree - though, this season, they don't deserve it. 

Now if I just could get presents to put under the tree, I'd be much happier.  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Seriously, though, how cute is this tree!?

Trivia Tuesday

~ Sometimes when you've had a crappy day, all you really need is to have a spontaneous car sing along of "Defying Gravity" from Wicked.

~ It also doesn't hurt to have a table sing along of "You're the one that I want" from Grease.

~ Confirming my long-held thought on the matter, salted margaritas are awful.  Even if you drink through the straw and avoid the salty rim, the entire drink tastes like you're drinking a salt shaker.

~ When a question is asked on the Civil Rights movement of the south, it's best to listen to the only Southern boy at the table, instead of second guessing him.  He will most likely have had the correct answer.

~ In useless knowledge, that will never take me anywhere in life, Kourtney Kardashian is the oldest Kardashian child.  (I'm actually ok with the fact that none of us knew that.)

~ If a question is asked on Sex and the City, the team make up of 4 straight girls and 3 gay guys will most likely play in your favor.

~ My obsession with all things Scotland, totally played in our favor.  Who's to say my having a Burn's Night Celebration was dumb idea now?

~ If the category name is Dallas, there's about a 99.9% chance it's not going to be about the television show.  

~ Even though I don't watch movies, I apparently was the only person to remember a movie from a few years ago regarding the death of JFK at a Dallas Hospital.  Unfortunately, I was only able to remember the "Park" part of the name.  But it was more than my team mate's were able to remember, so I was pretty proud of myself (the hospital's and the movie's name was Parkland not Parkville - which is the only thing I could think of at the time.)