BloomingPink

So, when the jogging in my life increases, so does the cravings and appetite for carbs....and.....FAT. This was what my body said I had to have on Sunday morning. It insisted. John (youngest and home for a short bit longer until he returns to college) gave me a nice little plug-in flat grill for Christmas. It is the perfect contraption for grilling not only pancakes, but FRUIT! I had some frozen peach slices and blueberries. Yes, they went on the grill with the batter and, of course, tablespoons of butter. Yum. Now, what I didn't show you was I included whipped cream on mine. I know, shame on me, but hey, I say I can... Because I jog. And with all the pain in my foot the jogging is causing...well, a little sweet whipped sugar and fat...Just the Medicine I Need... Okay, okay...WANT.

is always so much fun. They revive the senses. Every girl needs an ample supply of girlfriends.

Excerpt from Kinky Cat Chronicles - #1 I don't know what she is thinking, but if she walks out of the house wearing that, she'll have all the neighbors laughing. Maybe a hairball will delay her just long enough to wake up her fashion muse.

I found this pretty little bowl and a few others at a thrift shop near my work! While my husband was unimpressed with them and perplexed by my joy, I'm sure my daughter would understand. She thrifts not only as a matter of necessity but also because she is purposefully mindful about reducing needless capitalism and the use of poor labor in other countries. Her other main focus is to repurpose as much as possible to reduce needless waste and trash in the environment. She knows how hard it is to find something useful AND pretty...especially now that it's such a trendy thing to do. I guess my thrill was more of the "look at the pretty item I found", which means that I'm still more trendy and capitalist than I wish to be.

I'm on a "Let's Take Photos of our Food" kick. Really craving Tzatziki Sauce, but without a bud for lamb, I decided to whip up an impression of Greek so I could overload a pita with the tastey white spread. This dish was all about the sauce. Instead of lamb, I spiced up a combination of superlean ground beef and turkey with mint, cumin, salt, pepper...You'll also see some grilled eggplant included which was added to increase bulk, decrease calories, and fool the men in the house who dislike undisguised eggplant! The roses -- > Well, sweet as he is, my husband surprised me with them this evening. And...they add color to what would otherwise be a mostly offwhite and greenish photo! Now, let's see what else around here (besides hair balls) I can snap a photo of.

Behind my bright grin, I am an awkward woman. Only occasionally do I muster up the courage to put on an outfit that makes me look and feel even a little bit pretty. And it's getting harder as I enter my late forties. Things are sagging and skin is shifting in ways I never knew possible! And this month, the January of every year, is the WORST month to have the television on, because it's a constant plug for the beauty myth. I have been plagued with a distorted body image for more than two-thirds of my life. Januaries are the worst for me every year. Not because I indulge over the holidays. I really don't. But because of those darned commercials sending me constant messages which reinforce this putrid dust that penetrated my tiny little unprotected self esteem when it was wee. When I do feel ever so slightly pretty and elegant, I just have to have a little silent celebration... And this little wrap helped me feel just that. Damn the fact that I was missing the mark on corpora...

So, at around 2 PM, my friend, Kathy, realized she was a fashion faux pas. At 2 PM mind you! I was laughing so loud that almost everyone in our wing heard me and came over to see what was going on...

Much to my delight, I got a call from Vivian yesterday saying that she was nearby with her husband visiting her mom and dad before they head south for the rest of the winter! So, we decided to meet them for drinks and chat at the Moose Lodge nearby (sort of in-between our houses). We had a great time, because my husband has never met Vivian or her husband or parents and I've never met the male contingent in Vivian's life! Oh, and I've never been in a Moose Lodge before either, so now the mystery is gone. Much to my dismay, they don't actually wear giant furry hats. We had lots of fun and laughs...even when I lost all three games of pool to Vivian's dad! We couldn't talk Vivian's dad into a picture, so you'll just have to believe me when I say, he's a character too!

We are well into January already, but I still wanted to post what I have been working on. This little book is hand made and hand bound. Each page was distressed and stamped before sewing together into a book. I had so much fun making it, but needless to say, I think January will be well done before I even get to use it for anything! Right now I don't have a snapshot of the inside of the book, but it has pages for every day of the month, plus some other items sewn in for notes/observations, birthdays and important dates, etc. It was supposed to be a gift....one for each month, with the final resulting gift being a giant series of books....but alas, I don't think I have the time to complete something of this magnitude unless I start on it NOW for NEXT year (which, by the way, I've decided to do). So, stay tuned, because maybe sometime in November of this year, I'll show you the entire creation I finish! And I already have a recipient in mind. It is sort of fun to kn...

Totally scrumptious, this bread. John is home from college right now and in-between hours of aimless gaming, he must be thinking of good food. He trolled my cookbook case and pulled a very old Italian bread cookbook out and VOILA....filled our house with the wonderful aroma of rosemary. His first loaf.

It's so sad to lay to rest a young person. When the flurry of activity ends and the stillness of moment sets in...may angel wings surround this family as they adjust to life.

This is a wedding card that my daughter asked me to make for a couple of her friends that hitched. I actually think this card is usable for more than just a wedding and may actually make a few more for other occasions by changing the outside and inside greeting. It's VERY cold and windy here this weekend. I bet the wind chill brings the temp to around 20. I haven't heard wind this hard in some time. I have three layers of clothes on right now and I'm INSIDE...

The slideshow above are closeups of the calendar elements that I added to the pages with the pictures for Dave's mom and siblings. If you are curious about the stamp set I used, it's the Vintage Perpetual Calendar set from the Purple Onion Designs . Because of it's great design, it can be used year to year and includes enough calendar images to be able to find the right one for the month needed. I think this stamp set would pair up nicely with the Vintage Postcards or stamp sets that Clearly Vintage has on her blog. I made a similar calendar (without the old photos) - just the calendars mounted to the Top Note and DSP bases - for a friend this summer.

...for cards, that is. I finished these today for a card candy swap I joined. What fun these were to make and put together. I think they make nice little gifties for other crafty folks, so I think I just might make some more, except maybe with a lovers theme or something!