Superstorm Sandy

Sandy came, she visited, she blew leaves all over the place and left us with only a few missing shingles.  We were lucky compared to the millions who have lost power and in many cases, their homes.

On Monday afternoon we went out for a little while as we had lost power and we were trying to determine how extensive the outage was.  When we came back to our house I let Mr. E play in the leaves and wind for a few minutes.

Hey, Dema, it's windy out here!

Round and round the leaves blow!

Look at me!  I'm a Rock Star!

Happy Halloween!

Sweet P

My Latest Projects

This week I've been working on a few different projects.  Last week I bought the book 100 Snowflakes to Crochet.  What a fun book!  On Tuesday afternoon I crocheted the first three snowflakes.  My pile of completed snowflakes are growing.  I need to spend some time weaving in ends and blocking them before we get our first real snowfall.

Mr. E is going to be a doctor for Halloween.  Every doctor needs a scrub cap so I stitched one up for him this morning.  Of course it has to be a sports-themed hat.

I've also been working on swap gifts, but photos for those will have to wait.

Are you making any Halloween costumes?

Sweet P

Paper Play Today

Today I took a Bargello stitchery and made it into a book for a friend.  The pages are still a little curly so I can't show the inside of the book.

With leftover strips I made two Advent paper chains.

Now I need to decorate them.

What are you creating today?

Sweet P

This Post Brought to You by Mr. E

It's been a while since I posted about me and Mr. E playing in the kitchen.  This past Monday we had a baking session.  It all started two weeks ago when they stopped at the grocery on the way home from day care.  It was a rainy night and Mr. E wanted to get out of the car to get his cookie at the store.  Daddy told him there was a cookie at home with his name on it.  Well, when they got home he had to look at every cookie in the cookie jar and was upset because none of them had his name on it.

Dema to the rescue!  I mixed up a batch of sugar cookie dough using the recipe from The Decorated Cookie on Sunday night and on Monday morning we made cookies.

Step 1: Smoosh the dough

Step 2: Flatten the dough

Step 3: Roll out the dough

Step 4: Cut out the cookies

Step 5: Put the cookies on the pan

Step 5A: Try to taste the cookie dough

Step 6: Bake the cookies

Step 7: Write your name on a cookie and show it off

Step 7A: Be sure to make a Happy Birthday Dema cookie for me

He has been nibbling on the cookies all week.  Although he has to write his name on every one he eats.  I think I've created name writing cookie monster!

What have you been cooking in the kitchen?

Sweet P

Vacation Wrap-Up

Last Friday hubby and I boarded a plane at 6 am and arrived in Phoenix at noon.  Hubby treated us to a weekend at The Arizona Biltmore before he began a long business trip.  Hubby goes to this hotel every year at this time for an industry conference.  This was my first visit to the resort.  Needless to say I loved it!  We enjoyed a weekend of total relaxation, including a four-hour stint sitting by the pool.  It was the first time in my life I have sat by the pool and done next to nothing.  I totally fell in love with the resort.

We stayed in the Ocatilla wing of the resort.  This wing has it's own concierge and lounge.  One of the perks is a continental breakfast (I know many hotels include free breakfast, but we are talking about a luxury resort here).  Anyway, one of the items served at the breakfast every morning is fruit martinis.  A simple, yet elegant way, to serve fresh fruit.  I think I'm going to start serving these for breakfast at home.

I did quite a bit of stitching while relaxing.

I made progress on my Milanese Pouch.

I crocheted a few hexi puffs.

I think the orange needs to be finished into a pumpkin, don't you?

I crocheted six snowflakes using the crochet thread I dyed last week. The two snowflakes on the right I added Guttermann silver metallic thread to the crochet thread.

Of course, I had to go shopping at least once.  A Google search of needlework shops in Phoenix produced Family Arts Needlework Shop.  The shop was a straight two miles from the hotel so I knew I had to go there.  The shop is a non-profit organization whose profits are donated to Stepping Stones Academy for scholarships for low income students.  The shop itself is wonderful, full of every thread imaginable and a selection of yarn and supplies.  The shop has one paid employee and every one else is a volunteer.

After walking around for several minutes, I finally chose this project:

I have never done a drawn or painted canvas project so I'm excited to start this one.

I purchased a few threads to get me started as well.  The top two threads will be two of the three balloons.  The yellow one will be the stars.  Blue and orange for the the gifts.  Variegated for the words and the pink for the background.

I was planning to walk back to the hotel so I decided this bag would be the perfect way to tote my purchase.

I so enjoyed a stay-cation with a long weekend away at the end of it that I told hubby it is going to become a regular October vacation for us.  I am relaxed, energized and ready for the winter holiday rush to begin.

Sweet P