A Recipe for Pretty Home Decoration

So, quite a few years ago my parents went on one of their fantastic vacations to Italy, and one of the souvenirs they brought back for me has yet to be used. It's just been folded up, in a pantry or drawer or closet or up on a shelf with the dishrags and towels.

Recently, I got the souvenir out of storage, ironed it, and began planning out a pretty new home decoration. Whatever you want to call this thing: fabric recipe-book, or fabric poster, or dishtowel... anything you wanna call it, I love its vibrant lemon-yellow, apple-green, and touch of scarlet red.

I picked up two packages from Target for $9.99, each of which contained four black 8x10 picture frames. ("$9.99 for four whole entire picture frames!?!?!??" I hear you say. "Sure, I was okay with that price!" I might answer. "Even though the frame is plastic, the window is actually glass so they don't look very cheap just hanging there on the wall." Woohoo for cheap plastic frames from Target!) I measured the window of the frame and cut down my cloth to fit inside the frame. Then, before I put the cut-to-fit-perfectly fabric into the frame, I rolled each piece individually to be sure there was no residual lint or fuzzies on it. Because this has been in storage for so many years, it had quite a bit of yuk on it.

Then I put each piece into a frame. I mentioned above that each piece was cut-to-fit-perfectly behind the glass because I didn't want any of the artwork or words to be chopped off or hidden by part of the frame itself. You'll see why in a minute.

Here are all six framed pieces, ready to go in their respective frames. See why I didn't want any of the pictures or words--especially down the middle--covered by the frame? I wanted to still be able to read this, if I ever go crazy and decide to make my own limoncello. I doubt it, but I still wouldn't put it past me either.

Next, I flipped each frame over and pried off the little cardboard stand-prop-thing. Because these are going to hang on the wall, I didn't want the stand-prop-thing to make any of them hang sideways or lopsided.

Eww, look at that naked wall and that pitiful little half of our Mason cabinet. (We're calling it the Mason cabinet because my sister's fiance's mom, Marsha Mason, sold it to me for just $40!!! The top part, including a built-in flour sifter, is currently in our carport amidst paint remover and rags, undergoing some Botox.)

Annnnnnd, voila! Instant pretty on my dining room wall. And a recipe to boot! Now I need to find some whimsical and eye-catching little dishes or saucers or plates or platters to hang on the wall on either side of the frames. What do you think?

London broil, Part I: The Marinade

There was a day last week when I woke up, sent Carlton off to work, walked Vespa, and turned to my little dish on the kitchen counter for a... GASP!!!... no clementines left for breakfast? Or, lunchtime's dessert? Or, my infamous 4:00-snack-break-that's-not-really-approved-but-chuckled-at-because-they-know-I-get-cranky-at-work-when-I-get-too-hungry snack? Or, my before bedtime dessert (hey, it keeps me away from that bag of Nestle chocolate chips on the baking shelf, okay!)? No clementines at all and I just couldn't believe it.

So, after a quick Lean Cuisine lunch in the shop I jetted out to Winn Dixie to grab a crate of my littleorangedearlybeloveds and head back on into work.

Once I got there, I snatched up a crate and saw that they were putting out fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for buy-one-get-one-free. This is not a story of their adventures in being cooked.

This is the first part of the story of half of one of the two London broils I purchased for the same deal--buy-one-get-one-free. It's a good cut of beef. I remember my mom making a London broil every now-and-then when I was growing up, and it was always a good meal, served with mashed potatoes or baked potatoes or roasted potatoes. My mom's a meat-n-potatoes kinda girl, so that's how I'm used to eating. Can't complain about that! That's pretty much all Carlton will eat at all, so dinner tonight should be golden.

So, without anymore gabbing, here's Part I: The Marinade.

You'll need:

Dale's Seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, spicy mustard, sweet wine, and fresh garlic:

Peel the skins off of two or three cloves of garlic. I chose three, because I really like it.

Chop the garlic until you're happy with how small it is. I think I got a little carried away because I'm enjoying using my ceramic knife (thanks again, Daddy!). Then just dump the garlic into your dish.

Add in 1/4 cup of Dale's Seasoning, 1 tablespoon of the Worcestershire sauce, and 2 tablespoons of the spicy mustard:

The next step was supposed to be adding 1/4 cup of the sweet white wine. Ours was a homemade bottle of (apparently peachy) zinfandel and when I popped the cork, GA-ROSSSSSSS!!! There was no way I was going to marinade with this. Thanks for the gift, but um, no thanks. I grabbed honey instead. Add 1 tablespoon of honey to the marinading dish:

Whisk it all about. Like my action shot?

Plop in the beef. Wiggle it around to be sure the stuff really gets on there. Flip it over and wiggle it around some more. Seal it up tight and place it in the refrigerator until it's time to start dinner, hopefully for a few hours!

I'll be back around later tonight to share with you Part II: Cooking, Eating, and Loving the London Broil with some potatoes to boot! Hungry yet?

Apple Cake in an Iron Skillet: a New Year's success!

Way back, when we were making preparations to celebrate New Year's Eve of 2010, I discovered a recipe listed on Pioneer Woman Cooks and just couldn't pass it up.  PW makes everything she cooks look irresistible.  But there was something about this gooey, sticky, warm, comforting apple cake that needed to be baked, presented, and eaten that night after our friends Erin and Ted (our house's previous owners) fed us all steak and chicken fajitas.  Shhh, stop thinking that an apple cake with vanilla ice cream sounds nasty after stuffing cheese dip and spicy chicken fajitas in your face-hole.  It was a warm and sweet and light and delicious finishing touch after dinner and before silly champagne toasts that seemed to go on for an hour, in a good way.

So, needless to say, I called Erin in the early afternoon of New Year's Eve and offered to bring dessert, tempting her with the gooey-ness and apple-ness and sticky-ness that this recipe described.  She sounded genuinely excited, so I got prepared ASAP.  The only ingredient I didn't already have in the pantry was some tart apples.  Actually, I had two apples, but they had gone a little shrively since my every-year's winter obsession with clementines agreed to let them die a slow death on the kitchen counter.  Since I needed more than two apples, and since the apples in the cake were going to be eaten, I scooped Carlton up, squished him into the car with me, and we headed to the grocery store for a bag-o-Grannies.

Then I got started.  Melt the butter, all 1.75 sticks of it.

(Believe me, it really, really, really was worth all that butter. Really.)

While the butter melted, I prepped my apple for the cake batter:

(By the way, if you don't own a ceramic knife, I strongly recommend making the investment.)

Then, I added my sectioned apples to the skillet:

(Apples cooked in loads of butter? Okay, where do I bite?!?)

Wait, I feel like I forgot something. Oh yeah, the sugar!

(What's that you say? Apples cooked in loads of butter and shovels of sugar? Double-OKAY!!!)

Sugar and butter melted together into a syrup while the apples seasoned it and softened in the process:

(Holy guacamole, the house now smells like pure sin.  Or, pure Heaven.  Either way, I'm lovin' it.)

While the apples fried/sauteed/tempted me to gobble one up in a heartbeat with no reservation about burning the fool out of my mouth, I made the cake batter in my beloved stand mixer in classic white:

(Would it really be worth it to eat one of those apples at this point? I'll save my mouth the blisters and burns and lick the cake beaters, spoon, and bowl per The Pioneer Woman's instructions instead.)

Once the apples were fork-tender, I plopped the batter on one giant spoonful at a time like a good recipe-follower would do. Instead of plopping on top of the apples like hers seemed to do, mine kinda plopped into the mixture. I just scooped it back up on top of the apples and smoothed it a little:

(I still don't know how I resisted the apples in the skillet. To this day, I think the smell is stuck in my nose. Or, it was just such a good smell that I remember it that vividly. Either way, yummo.)

This was the finished product before I flipped it onto a large serving platter.  It came out of my skillet in one piece with no stragglers left behind, what an accidental accomplishment!

(Still an enormous amount of willpower here, I waited until after dinner at Ted and Erin's house to share the gooey, cakey, appley goodness with everyone else.)

While I didn't get a picture of the final cake flipped out of the skillet on my platter (oy, tragedy!), I did get a shot of some of us (the girls of the night, minus one girl, plus one guy) after the warm dessert, along with vanilla ice cream (a MUST with this one, y'all), had been devoured:

Happy faces for a Happy New Year!

A Glimpse Back: Christmas Eve Night

(This is one of my last couple of "stalling" blog entries awaiting publication, so I'm finishing it up and putting it out there.)

It's really, truly way too bad that it never dawned on me to grab my camera from my purse once I got to Papa's house.  We had a good time all together.

On Christmas Eve night every year, it is tradition for my closest of family members to trek over to 35 Magnolia Drive for the customary ham and turkey sandwiches accompanied by that delish! onion dip/chips that go along with some deviled eggs, random other sides, and (if we've been good all year and if we're really, really lucky) a generous serving of Mama's beefy Velveeta cheese dip and corn chips (thanks, Leslie!). While nothing about this meal (other than the ham, although it is usually on a sandwich) belongs in a typical Christmas Eve feast, it is our family's Christmas Eve tradition and we like it just fine.

We gathered in the marquesina again this year like always... again, don't ask me where that word came from, I really don't know... an old family friend, perhaps?  Anyway.  We ate, talked, caught up with each other, laughed a lot, and then my aunt Leslie passed out named gifts.  We all ooooo'd and aaaaah'd over each gift as the paper was ripped and thrown aside.  Now please don't get me wrong... I loved all the gifts that I got.  Everyone on Christmas Eve was so gracious, and so thoughtful!  I got new clothes, "shopping supplies" for our 2010 making-house-into-home projects, soaps and lotions that smell absolutely delicious, and so much more!  But what I really enjoyed this year more than anything was watching everyone else open their gifts.  I watched Papa start opening before he was supposed to (and get in trouble for it), I saw my aunt open a beautiful kitty quilt, I watched my dad try to pick up and open a hefty new supply of ammunition for one of his prized noisemakers, and I listened in as Tommy scratched off the big-dollar lotto tickets we gave him (which paid for themselves by giving him a bit of cash and some more lotto tickets).

Once all of the "named gifts" were opened, loved on, and set aside for safe keeping, the numbered gifts came out!  Numbers 1 thru 10 (I think we had a whole 10 of us there, wow!) were drawn and picked from the pile (or from each others hands!) and the game was loud and fun and mean and sneaky.  Who would'a guessed that "As Seen On TV Windshield Cleaner" would be such a hit?  Or, an Ove Glove?  Hahaha!  Of course there were a couple sets of scratch-off lottery tickets that were stolen from the hands of a hopeful-and-greedy family member.  Scott was the lucky fellow who won big: an entire manicure/pedicure set complete with soaps, salts, and lotions... and complimented by a handheld back massage gizmo!

After we all finished cleaning up and packing the leftover food and gifts away in car trunks, it was time to say goodnight.  Santa was on his way!

Ah - HAH!!!

I found the entry I was looking for in my previous post!

See?  Mirror, with a teal frame.  Pretty white bowl on the right.  Pretty lamp on the left.  I
remembered the important details!

I love The Nester.  She's clever, witty, and thrives in an imperfect world that looks so darn good!

(Hey, you.  This is another blogger I have just shared with you.  Appreciate her!)

Shine your Sink!

One of my sub-categories in my new year's resolution includes being a more forward-moving, driven, motivated housekeeper.  In my previous blog entry, I explained a little bit about how I just can't get things done when I don't have the time to do them the right way... and then they stack up on me and I'm even further away from getting the job done than I originally was.

For instance: cooking dinner.  Let's say I want to make some chicken fajitas tonight.  I put the chicken in the fridge last night before bed so it could thaw out.  Got home from work, walked Vespa, got the chicken out of the fridge, and then I realize the dishwasher didn't run last night when I thought I turned it on.  Then, let's say, I clean a skillet and put the chicken on medium heat along with some lime juice, ground cumin, lime zest, and salt&pepper.  Now let's say I grab the veggies out of the fridge, reach to the drawer for a knife, and realize all the knives were also in the dishwasher, dirty as can be!  Clean a knife.  Out of their plastic baggy the bell peppers and onions come.  Um, where's the cutting board?  Oh yeah, dirty in the dishwasher.

See what I mean?  Totally unorganized, frustrated, re-doing steps that should have been done earlier, and forgetting steps that should be done first!  It gets annoying really quickly, and it makes it easier to just come up with an excuse for us to go out and grab Arby's or Zaxby's or Chik-fil-A or something that I don't have to prepare. 

And now we are fat.  :)

Well, throughout the year of 2009 I discovered a common theme throughout a couple of blogs I follow regularly:  a couple of ladies recommended that you Shine Your Sink!  (I can't for the life of me find the blogs this theme came from, but I promise that one of them shined her sink in a kitchen that had no windows, and put up either a mirror or a piece of reflective metal on the wall above the sink, and set up a tiny lamp on the left to give the sink a happier, brighter feel.  There was teal somewhere in the equation.  And a pretty white bowl.  Ah!  When I find it, I'll let you know.)  The website FlyLady.net is the dummy's breakthrough drug for conquering any strongly stupid ideas of perfectionism, OCD-ism, or over-committing-ism as far as housekeeping goes. (Because who really has the time, stamina, and determination to be perfect, OCD, and committed to cleaning house all the time?)  It's a "baby steps" approach to getting the house clean and organized one step... one minute... one day at a time.  She calls it "Living in CHAOS... Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome" and I think that's hilarious.  Now, instead of having to write out my own step-by-step list of specific goals to finish around the house and possibly overwhelm myself, FlyLady has already made the list for me!  The first day, I started off with shining my kitchen sink.  And every day after that, I shine my sink and add in a new task.  Some days, I get a break from all tasks other than shining the sink.  :)  FlyLady is giving me new habits.  Instead of looking around for that knife to chop the bell peppers for fajita night, I will have already put that knife back where it belongs... imagine that, what a revolution!  (Der.)

So.  Here's to a new year, with new goals and new ways of keeping my house a clean, organized, ready-to-cook-fajitas house.  And a very, very, very fine house it'll be.

My (one) resolution for 2010

My resolutions for the New Year all sort of blur together, because they're all a part of the same theme:

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In 2010, I want to nest.

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I want to cook healthier, more colorful food for my husband and me.  I want us to eat smaller and healthier portions of everything.  More vegetables and less beef and chicken, more fish.  One serving of bread.  Green vegetables, yellow vegetables, purple, red, orange vegetables. Baked, boiled, grilled, and chilled.  I want to drink less sodas and more water.  (Actually, for myself, muster up the nerve to cut the Coke.  Drink water, and only water.  Don't cut it cold turkey, but nobody needs all that sugar multiple times every day.)  Eat out less (and in turn, save more money), eat a healthier diet, and eventually (hopefully) lose a few extra pounds in the process.

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Finally spend the money Carlton gave me for my birthday to install a pantry-sized cabinet in our kitchen.  It was a sweet, thoughtful, gracious gift from Carlton, and I've even picked the one I'd like.  It's tall, with an upper storage area as large as our existing upper cabinets.  The middle section would give me a whole third drawer to use for storage in the kitchen (I know!!!).  The lower section is as large as one of our existing base cabinets.  Yay, storage!  This is an awesome gift from Carlton, and I've got to go get it already!  Believe me, you'll know when I do.

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I want to keep our new home tidier than I do now.  I only work 3 days a week most weeks, and I still don't keep up with cleaning/folding/putting away laundry.  Or scrubbing bathrooms.  Or vacuuming.  Or cooking every night.  I touch on everything, but the entirety of each task is never done.  One of my resolutions for 2009 was to push through my compulsive need to do each step of each process just so or else start over... and if there's not enough time to do each process just so, it's so hard to even start the project at hand!  I have to push through this crazy mind-block and just do it already.  (I will never be featured on 'Hoarders'... I will never be featured on 'Hoarders'... I will never be featured on 'Hoarders'....)

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I want to fill our new home with hearty new furniture: a sofa, end tables, a media cabinet, a china cabinet, a master bed frame, night tables, our own end tables and area rugs and dining table and chairs.  Buy lamps to light the rooms, and hang art on the walls (mine, purchased, printed, handmade, whatever we like!), paint the rooms, sew drapes for the windows, paint the front door red, install wallpaper and beadboard the laundry "room", just... fluff our nest and make it our home.  Toss mix-matched toss pillows on the brown-and-ivory ticking sofa, lounge in the roughed-up leather barcalounger, find a chair and ottoman to replace Dave's, find a respectable desk for Carlton's computer to sit at, find a table I can use as a crafting/sewing table.  Make our home a comfortable, cool, mellow, artistic expression of myself... with a bit of Carlton's say-so in the mix.  I am, after all, formally trained in house decorating and room planning, y'all!  "Come and relax now. Put your troubles down. No need to bear the weight of your worries here, let them all fall away." -Dave Matthews

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While this isn't really "in" with the theme of nesting in my own home, it does involve helping someone else start her own nest.  I want to be a strong, sturdy home base for any stress my mom and sister may bump into along this road to marriage that my sister is now on.  She's got quite a few months ahead of her that will be filled with lists, chores, projects, more lists, letters, emails, phone calls, even more lists, invitations, parties, celebrations, showers, more lists... and the list goes on.  I remember everything my mom did for me in the planning of my wedding.  No good deed went unnoticed, and she did a lot of good deeds for me.  I was, after all, in the process of finishing up my last semester at UWG, taking all sorts of finals and presenting final projects, putting together my senior exhibition, and planning a wedding on top of all that was just a lot to handle.  My mom made so many lists, called so many people, and handled so many things for me... it's just hard to imagine everything she did!  And I know my sister helped a lot with all of that as well.  She was an amazing Maid of Honor, and completed any and all duties my mom or I would assign to her.  She was great moral support, honest in her opinions, and quick to help whenever and wherever she was needed.  I hope I can be that moral support, that honest Matron of Honor, and that quick-to-help sister that I know I needed when I was a bride-to-be.  I hope I can be as much of a side-kick to my mom that she might want or need for all of the lists, plans, parties, showers, letters, and meetings that she will be juggling for this wedding.  In essence, I hope that I can be a nest of support for my mom as she goes to work in the planning department, and I hope that I can be the Matron of Honor that my sister needs me to be, in order to create the nest that her heart is moving towards this October... even if she does decide on hideous bridesmaid dresses!

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I want to make Vespa's nest more fun, active, entertaining, unexpected, and exciting.  Sure, she's just outta-this-world happy that we get home from work every day.  But there is no anticipation for a neighborhood walk, and I have been feeling this longing from her lately to have more fun.  I want to break out the squeaky toys, chewy toys, and the chasing games.  I want to expand Vespa's nest this year: install a fence in our backyard!  That's been on our list since before we moved in a few months ago, and it is definitely a part of the whole nesting list this year.  She LOVED the fenced-in back yard we had in Arizona, and I miss letting her in and out the back door.  Come warm weather and cool breezes, I want Vespa to enjoy them in her very own yard.

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I want to take better care of my body.  Clean the make-up off of my face every night.  Use less chemical products on my face, on my skin, in the laundry, and all over the house.  I want to go out for a pedicure and manicure every now-and-then.  I want to find a daily multivitamin that won't make me throw up 20 minutes later (so far, in almost 4 years, no success and I don't take any vitamin at all for fear of throwing up every morning).  I want to wear better shoes at work that don't hurt my feet, toes, knees, and back by the end of the day.  I want to start a daily yoga/fitness routine and maintain a standard for exercise each day.  Sweat means no gain... no weight gain, that is.  And, since the "B MOH MOB MoFG Diet" has started as of January 1, 2010, I have no option but to meet my goal, maintain my goal, flaunt my goal, love my goal, and live my goal.  And the goal deadline is October 2nd.  "I'll meet you then, Goal."

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I want to knit more.  Learn more knitting techniques (and the right way to do them left-handed).  Support the nearest Local Yarn Shops (MACON!!!!!!) instead of zipping to Valdosta for a quick-ish HobLob acrylic yarn fix.  Knit something for our becoming-a-nest-of-a-house like a wall-hanging to display over the sofa or bed, a Christmas tree skirt, a throw for the sofa, or heck, an area rug! 

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In 2010, I want to nest.

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Christmas Eve Morning

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

Carlton and I woke up at about 6:45, showered, dressed, filled up gas tank, and hit the highway by 7:30 on Christmas Eve morning.  It was a very early morning for us, mostly because of the late night beforehand, but we managed to get on the road within a reasonable amount of time.

The highways were FANTASTIC!!!  At any time we could look around us on the road and only see about 3-4 other cars.  The most traffic we were ever around was in north Georgia near Kennesaw, and that was at about 11:00am, about the time we guessed everyone was traveling "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house" for Christmas Eve lunch.

We drove straight to Carlton's parents' house.  Carlton's brother Saunders, his wife Katie, and their daughter Katie Anne were also there.  KA and I had a lot of fun checking out all the Christmas ornaments on the tree before lunch.  For a Christmas Eve lunch, Vicki made a delicious spinach lasagna, garlic bread, and a chocolatey-raspberry-bread pudding for dessert.  After lunch, we all headed into the sun room where we opened Christmas gifts.

Brothers Saunders and Carlton checking out all the loot before opening began:

I had my eye on a flat yellow envelope labeled with my name on it (okay, Carlton was written on it too), and was from Katie Anne.  My heart was filled with hope for what might actually be in that envelope, and I saved it for last.  We all enjoyed opening our gifts.  Everyone was very generous and incredibly thoughtful in their gift shopping.  It was so much fun to watch Katie Anne open each gift, examine it, play with it, love it, and prepare for the next gift.

(As a side note, which could have easily ended up being its very own blog entry, I had WAYYYY too much fun shopping for Katie Anne this year.  I mean, WAYYYY too much fun.  You see, she's into playing dress-up.  And, well, I just really think dress-up is pretty much the best game ever.  Playing dress-up, playing house, playing school, playing kitchen, playing ANYTHING involves an extensive imaginary wardrobe.  And that imaginary wardrobe is usually made up of Mommy's old high heels, some plastic jewelry, some ring-pops from the candy aisle, some fancy hair barrettes, and a few other random items found around the house.  But why can't an indulgent aunt buy a bit of a dress-up wardrobe to fit her little neice's playful imagination?  So, let's just leave it at this: I did.  I tried my best to accommodate as many dress-up moods this child might have as I possibly could.  Is Katie Anne in the mood to be a bug?  Or, a Super Hero?  Or, maybe have a Tea Party?  How about cooking up a new recipe?  This imagination-filled toddler is now totally prepared.)

Carlton and I got just what we had hoped for: lots and lots of new clothes for work!  I needed sweaters, cardigans, and shoes.  Carlton needed office shirts, and something warm to keep the chill off in the cool office.  We are both sooooo well prepared now, thanks everybody!  I watched with anticipation as Katie Anne opened a box we had filled with an assortment of dress-up items.  This two-year-old holds my heart in her tiny little hands.  She'll either melt my heart with happiness, or crush it by tossing all these terrific imagination gifts aside for another paper-ripping second of fun.  Oh, Saunders is crazy about the sunglasses Carlton picked out for him?  Good.  Katie loves the collection of Pandora beads for her bracelet?  Great.  Katie Anne pulls out a pair of fancy, hot pink teatime gloves with neon orange flowers.  "Put them on me, Daddy!"  My heart melts.  She discovers a pair of optical sunglasses that create a "bug's eye view" when you put them on.  "Let me try them on, Mommy!"  My heart is dripping to the floor now.  The fancy pearl necklace that coordinates with the teatime gloves gets put aside (I'm okay with that, I'll recover) as Katie Anne reaches for the Super Hero Costume, complete with forearm cuffs, cape, and disguising black face mask.  "I can be disappeared and you won't even know me, Daddy!  And I'll fly really, really fast in the air like a bird!"  I think someone had to scoop my melted heart off the floor at this point.  She. LOVED! It.  And I could tell that she did.  My life... is complete.

But wait.

My favorite gift of all was yet to come.  And, it was at the bottom of her pile.  AT THE BOTTOM OF HER PILE, PEOPLE.  (How much patience is a 25-year-old expected to have on Christmas Eve?)

I waited patiently as Katie Anne opened a few more gifts.  Carlton got a fancy reversible blue pullover?  Nice.  Vicki got a beautifully framed photo of Katie Anne?  Precious.  Now, everyone SHHHH!!!  Katie Anne has arrived at the box.  (Actually, everyone keeps about their gift-opening business as I silently and secretly-with-my-own-blown-out-of-proportion-excitement hone in on Katie Anne.)

The paper comes off.  The box pops open.  Her eyes... they just... lit up!  She pulls out the present, "Mommy, open this!"  "What is this, Katie Anne?  What do you think this is?"  "Stwarberry Shor-cake?"  Katie Anne looks at me, "Stwarberry Shor-cake?"  "Well," I told her, "sort of...."

The pieces are pulled from their cardboard packaging and Katie Anne assesses the goods.  "Katie Anne, it looks like a chef's outfit with an oven mit and a potholder and an apron and a chef's hat."  Her eyes lit up again.  "Put it on me, Mommy!"

 It's even more perfect that I caught her spinning:

My heart skipped melting and pretty much just evaporated.  I was happy.  I was satisfied.  Christmas, as I considered it, was a success.

"Look at me!"  Katie Anne exclaimed 5 minutes later, with the outfit still on.

Grandmama and Vicki open their twin gifts, handmade artistic birdhouses from Carlton and me.  I open some beautiful monogrammed guest-bathroom soaps, and then some gorgeous monogrammed towels from Grandmama.

"Look at me!"  Katie Anne exclaimed again.

It seemed she would be drawn back into the ripping and tearing of Christmas wrapping paper, the cheers and smiles of a shared good time, and then suddenly remember again what she was wearing:

"Look at me!"

And finally, I opened the yellow envelope that I had saved for last.  Now my heart was full.  Katie Anne had drawn a picture for me (err, us).  A sweet little picture of Carlton, me, and Vespa, complete with a sunshine and Vespa's food.

Just... absolutely, by far, a perfect Christmas Eve afternoon.

The Eve of Christmas Eve

Carlton and I both worked on December 23rd.  Actually, I worked all day like any other normal day at the shop. Carlton was at his office until about 12:30, at which time he drove himself on home to take a long winter's nap with the pup for the rest of the afternoon.  :)  But the time spent up until 12:30 at his office was just critical office work time, I might add: the exchanging of gifts, lunch, desserts, more gifts, and blissful Christmas spirit had to be crammed into that tiny time frame of 8:30-12:30... and what a job that was!  He did come home with some glorious and very gracious gifts (including a great duffel-style insulated cooler, Omaha Steaks, some gigantic summer sausages, gift cards, candies, and more), so I can't really complain too much about the work he did that morning.  :)
After I got home at 6:00-ish, we had some dinner and wrapped the last few gifts that were to be packed up and driven to Cartersville the next morning.  After the wrapping was finished, Carlton and I went ahead and picked one gift to open that night, for our very own first Christmas in our very own first home.  Carlton's choice was pretty much a given, since it was so big it only fit into the MINI because the back seats were down and it definitely wouldn't even come close to fitting into the Nissan (which was what we had planned to drive to Cartersville).  I had known for a couple weeks what gift I wanted to open first, but waited patiently for Carlton to open his gift first.

He had tried for weeks to figure out what I'd gotten him, failing time and time again to guess correctly.  Once the paper came off, he was so surprised that he had never guessed what was inside the giant box: a new high-def home theater system!

Next it was my turn.  I shook my box, listened really well, shook it some more, and ripped the paper open.

More paper!

Finally, I got all the paper off and discovered 10 tiny black boxes.  Tiny boxes are always a good thing!  Inside the boxes were 5 pairs of earrings and 5 necklaces, making 5 matching sets of semi-precious stone/sterling silver jewelry for me to wear with just about any unsuspecting outfit! 

Way to go, Carlton!  I was very impressed and surprised.  Your bases are now officially covered.  (Actually, Carlton's theory was to cover his bases this year on the basic "color wheel" so that from now on he can select "specialty" pieces.  Who can argue with an entire collection of necklaces and earrings, or his theory?  Not this happy wife!)

After opening our gifts, Carlton and I showered, packed our clothes for the long weekend, and loaded up all the gifts into the car for the long haul up to Cartersville!  We got to bed at about midnight, set the alarm for 6:30, and just hoped and prayed that our little eyes could pop open for the holiday drive.

FYI

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and post-Christmas posts are awaiting photo download and will be published as soon as internet allows. Move along!

I'm ba-aaaaaaack!

So I guess it goes without saying that I have been missing from blog-land for quite a while. Aside from my little (and loud!) blurp about my sister's engagement and another about a beautiful stocking, I've been away for too long.  We have celebrated two major holidays with family and friends, and there has been not so much as a peep from me in blogland.  Sorry, I think I had gotten burned out and just needed a break.  I even took pictures here and there with intentions of writing something about them, but just couldn't make myself do it in the end. (I actually have four "drafts" awaiting publication to my blog, but they're all unfinished, and there are no pictures or anything in them.) But hey, I'm back! I have a recipe or two to share, stories about furniture shopping for the new house, family and friend get-togethers, and more.  It's good to be back, and fresher (yes, fresher) than ever.

Big news!!!

Forgive my absence, but let's set that aside for a moment. Like I said, this is big news!

MY SISTER IS A FIANCEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, guys, Kristen's boyfriend, Scott, popped the question on Wednesday night as they rode through the maze of bright Christmas lights at Petit Creek Farm. At first she was annoyed that he was driving so slowly, but once he asked the question and got out the ring, she understood why 1 mph was necessary.  ;)

Scott talked with me on Monday afternoon through text messaging, asking if Carlton and I would be able to make it into town for "a special dinner" that Wednesday night.  Umm, while eating out in the middle of the week might have sounded nice, an 8 hour round trip surely didn't.  I thanked him, confused at the "special" part of the question, and asked what the occasion was.  As it turned out, Scott had to tell me that he wanted us in town that night for dinner because he was planning to propose to Kristen and then meet his family and my family for dinner to share the great news, and to let Kristen show off her new engagement ring.  Well of course, once he explained everything, I made plans to work a half-day on Wednesday so that I could be in Cartersville by 7:30!  There's no way I was going to miss dinner with my sister and her fiance on the night they got engaged!  Carlton couldn't make it because of busy work on Wednesday and Thursday, but I was really glad my work schedule could move around like it did.  I met everyone at The Cellar in Cartersville for dinner.  When I came in, Kristen was so surprised she held out her arms and said, "YOU CAME!!!!!!! You came????!!!!???"  And then I said, "I came! You're engaged?!????!!!!???"  I'm glad I made the drive.  It was great to share the celebration with the newly engaged couple and our families. 

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Peekaboo...

I'm still here! Just suffering from a case of the blogging lazies, in conjunction with holiday crazies, and lots and lots and lots of knitting. 

Tomorrow I'm off work and will be cleaning (knitting) and running errands (Christmas shopping).  I'll make more time to blog then.  For now, I'm starting one'a these:

Ruffles for Christmas

Have you started thinking about and/or working on the gifts you're giving this Christmas? I have been brainstorming for weeks, have ordered some materials (guess what my material of choice is!), and I started the first gift late last night. Thanks to an hour of America's Funniest Home Videos followed by an hour of Project Runway (part 1 of 2 of the season finale!), I've gotten quite a bit of work done on it tonight. Ruffles, anybody?

And, not that you'll get this at all if you're not a knitter, but I totally pulled the loose tail from inside this skein. On the first try. *Rock Star.*