Call Me Crazy

Call me crazy... but I am already starting to get ready for Halloween! Fall is by far my favorite season, with the Harvest and Halloween being my favorite parts about it. The first two Halloweens Ryan and I have been in our house, we have had parties. We have embraced the scary haunted house type theme, but this year, I think change is in the air.

I have probably been influenced by my Mom's outragously cute Vintage Halloween theme at my parent's house, but never really thought of decorating like that myself... until now. I have recently become... well, basically obsessed with the Vintage Halloween look. Ryan is probably getting tired of it already, but I love the charm and old-world appeal of the vintage look.

If we have another Halloween party this year, I will definitely be using the Vintage Halloween theme. I can't wait to decorate!

Little Sprouts

Hey Kids! It's finally time to start your indoor seedlings. I'm going to try using egg cartons this year. They are the perfect size for the first phase.

Things to start now...

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Lettuces

Cabbage

Herbs

Flowering ground cover

Leafy annuals

This year, we should be able to start things outside a little earlier since there is not as much danger of frost. We're looking forward to a longer growing season!

Happy gardening!

LOVE

i LOVE my Husband when he takes out the trash so I don't have to.

i LOVE my Husband that thanks me for dinner and then offers to do the dishes.

i LOVE my Husband that helped me to appreciate the simple things in life.

i LOVE my Husband who watches sensitive, family shows with me (& at least pretends to like them).

i LOVE my Husband who builds me things.

i LOVE my Husband who snuggles back into bed with me to wake me up in the morning after he gets ready.

i LOVE my Husband who does the grocery shopping.

i LOVE my Husband who showed me the importance and rewards of being a good saver.

i LOVE my Husband who has committed to a journey of fitness and health with me in 2010.

i LOVE my Husband who helps me make Valentine's cupcakes.

i LOVE my Husband with all of my HEART.

Thanks for being the best Valentine EVER, lovey!

Baby Birdy

One of my friends at work is 8 months pregnant and we had a baby shower for her. So fun!! I love baby showers and everything that comes with them! It's so fun to shop for cute itty-bitty clothes and toys and binks and... uh!... everything! :-) But this 2nd time mama-to-be is having another girl, so she doesn't really need a whole lot of essentials. She didn't register anywhere either, which makes it a little more difficult. But I had a plan...

I made her give me ideas about her new little one's room and decor theme... birdies, and flowers, and lots of yellow, and pink, and green! CUTE!

Then I had my "ah-ha!" moment. I remembered seeing some wall stencils in a catalog, and they matched perfectly with the birdy pics she already had! Excitement took over. I wanted to stencil one of the birdies onto something. What though?? What could a mama use in her new babe's room? Something functional, something for decoration only? Hmmm... how about a stool? Mama could use it in the room for decoration, big sis could use it to step up to the crib to see baby, and baby could use it when she gets older. Perfect! ;)

So I started with this... a simple wooden stool...

Then I painted it white. I suppose I should have painted it yellow, since that was one of her colors, but I decided that might be yellow overload, so white it was...

Then came the important part... painting the bird. I didn't have time to re-do this stool if I really messed it all up, so it was imperative that I get it right on the first try... stress... but I think it turned out pretty cute...

She started to cry when she opened it.... I think she liked it too.

Congrats again Kristie! And have fun with that new little cutie!

Date Night

This year, one of Ryan and my New Year's resolutions was to spend more quality time together, and to have more "date nights". :-) So we decided to have at least one (but try to do two) date nights a month, and trade off and on between the two of us to plan them.

Our first one of 2010 was a pizza making date night, complete with homemade pizza, lots of wine, and a fun movie! We were very proud of our little pizza... we made the dough from scratch and spread it out on a corn-mealed pizza stone. I also made some delicious pizza sauce, that is now (by far!) my favorite. Never use store-bought pizza sauce again! Then we had to decorate it with lots of fresh toppings... making me hungry right now!

Then, of course, we had to top if off with lots of yummy cheese...

Pop it in the oven for 25 min, and viola la! You have a delicious dinner for two on Date Night! So scrumptous. Let's do it again babe!

The End.

Oldies but Goodies

Recently, I had the great pleasure of meeting up with a few girls from back in the good 'ole days. One of my very best friends, Katie, was in town from her new "home town" of L.A. We miss her terribly up here, but it's always so good to see her smiling face! The same night I got to see her, we also met up with some old friends from Lake Stevens High: Danielle and Callie. :-) We had a great Happy Hour dinner at the Woodfire Grill and did some much-needed catching up. LOVE them!

Then, the next weekend, I was able to meet up with my friend from high school crew, Liz! She is an "Austrailian" now with her hunky Austrailian hubby. Although she adimately denies it, she has aquired an Austrailian accent. Hee hee! We love to tease her about it.

I was so happy to congratulate her on her acceptance into Columbia's Business School when she was here! She found out just a couple of days before. Yay! Now I can visit her while she is in New York, and then again when she moves back to Austrailia! I don't like to see friends move away, but it makes for a great excuse to go visit some pretty fun places. I can't wait!

I also got to meet Liz's cute and sassy friend, Laura. She is so fun! If only she didn't live in Portland... doesn't really allow for a friendship to really blossom. But there's always Facebook, right?

I am a Big Shot

... junky!

One of my gifts for Christmas was the Stampin' Up Big Shot Die Cut Machine. Well, actually, my Mom gave me the electric version, which razzles and dazzles you with 2-second cuts! Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!

But trying to think long-term, I opted for the manual version to avoid any chance of having to replace this fairly expensive hobby enabler, in the chance that it ever stopped working. Which, if my experience with other electronics tells me anything, it will eventually die.

So the future looks bright for me and my new life-long-lasting machine. I am already pretty much obsessed with it. How could you not be when you can make such cute things as this...

I've already started on Valentine's cards using my new best friend, but I think next I will make invites to the first ever Big Shot Anonymous.