You have GOT to be kidding me.

Do you see what I see?



That's right, folks. It's SNOWING out there. Big, chunky snowball snowflakes. What the heck?!



I blame Pyper. She asked her mommy to go sledding. Clearly, she brought this nastiness on us!

If you need me...

I will be here....




Or here....




Or possibly here!

Yay!!

Today is new furniture day! Wheeee!!! It will be here in just a few hours! :D

Adventures in furniture shopping!

Yesterday we placed an order for our first grownup furniture! Wheee! Our current bed was Jeff's when he was a child and our couch is probably at least that old. My back has been hurting and we just decided it was time. So, off to Ashley Furniture we went! (which I highly recommend, by the way!)

We actually started looking on Sunday, when we decided on the couch. Of course, we also found this awesome giant furniture at the front of the store. Seriously, who could this have been made for? I looked like Edith Ann. The edge of the chair hit the bottoms of my calves.



Anyway, on to the furniture we *actually* bought!

Here's the general living room group:


I know it's probably not everyone's style, but I love it and it is soooooooo comfy. I can't wait to snuggle up and take a nap on it.

We got that couch, but this chair and ottoman instead of the loveseat (just because of the space we have available). Jeff and I can cuddle up in it just perfectly:


Here's the rug:


And then we got this coffee table. You can't really tell in the pic, but there's a pretty little damask/paisley sort of design in the hammered part around the middle.


I might also back up and get the side table at some point too, but we just ordered the coffee table for now:


We also broke down and bought a bed too. It's woooonderful. I think it's a Sealy Posturepedic? I can't remember off the top of my head, but I can't wait for it to get here!! We also decided to get a queen size, instead of the full we've been sleeping on.

So, yay yay yay! I'm very excited. It sounds like everything but the rug should be here by next weekend? Eeeee! They originally said it would be 2-3 weeks. I. Can't. Wait!! :D

Behold the cuteness!

I know...probably not the most appropriate/grown up luggage for an almost 30 year old woman...but I love these! I decided to go ahead and get them as a really early birthday present (although my birthday isn't till the end of November), because I figured these would be long gone by then!



They're a nice little set. I think I'm in love. :)


Plus, they totally go with the pink suitcase my mother in law bought for me a few years ago! *grins* Jeff just loooves these, I'm sure!

Creative Monday: Halloween edition!

We're having a big Halloween party again. So much fun! :) My general theme is based off of Disney's Haunted Mansion, but I like some general little stuff too...soooo, I made a little bat garland from tissue paper (an idea I saw on the Martha Stewart site)



It's easy enough to do. I just drew a little bat and then traced him onto the tissue paper (that was already prefolded. I used pencil so that I could see what I was doing, and my tiny embroidery scissors to make the tiny cuts. Each strand is about 5 bats long and then I just taped them together.

Let's make some pie!

With the temperatures dropping, I've been in the mood for some baking. This weekend, the project was apple pie. Yum!



The Recipe


Crust (this will make enough for the top and bottom crust of one pie):
2 c flour
2/3 cup crisco (I use the butter flavored crisco)
1/8 t salt

1)Mix together ingredients with a pastry blender (or cut in with 2 forks). I often add the flour a little at a time, just to keep things more manageable.

2)Add warm water 1 T at a time, mixing well between each until you've added 4 T warm water to the dough.



3)Finish blending by hand, then pat into a ball (and separate in half if you're making a top and bottom crust) and roll the dough flat between 2 sheets of wax paper.

4)Remove one of the wax sheets and flip crust over into a pie plate and remove second sheet of wax paper, then prepare apples.

Apple Filling


1)Peel 5-6 apples (for reference, I used about 3-3.5 pounds for 2 pies). You need a tart apple, like Jonathan. I like to use Gala, because we'll eat those if we have any left over.

2)Once peeled, core and slice the apples into slices.

3)Mix together cinnamon (I don't really measure this, I just try to make sure that the mixture ends up looking a little more brown than white, if that makes sense) and 3/4 c sugar. Sprinkle over the apples and mix to coat the apples.



4)Dump apple filling in pie shell and slice one stick of butter (or margarine) into butter pats and spread all over the pie.

Finishing and baking:
Add your top crust (removing wax paper the same way you did with the bottom crust) and crimp edges to seal. Use a spoon to poke vent holes in the top and bake at 375 for about an hour.

Voila! Apple pie from scratch! :D

Nermal Says...

Ummm...no, mommy. I have NO idea how your fabric keeps getting furry!!

Creative Monday: Cupcakes!!

A belated creative Monday post:

I've done a ton of baking this week (these were for my hubby's birthday) and I attempted to do the icing like a real person. That's sort of creative, right?



Recipe:

Carrot Cake:
2 c flour
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
3 c grated carrots (1 lb.)
4 eggs
2 c sugar
2 t cinnamon
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 c vegetable oil
1 t vanilla

1) Mix dry ingredients and carrots.
2) Add vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
3) For cupcakes: Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes (toothpick should come out clean)
4) Allow cupcakes to cool completely (I allowed overnight) and then add frosting.



Frosting:
1 stick butter (softened)
1 t vanilla
4 c powdered sugar
1 8 oz. "brick" of cream cheese (softened)

1) Whip together cream cheese and butter. Add sugar (I tend to do this a cup at a time) and then vanilla.

Jumpity.

Jumpity...


Jumpity...


Jump!!


I still need to put eyes on the grasshoppers, but I'm having problems with placement. *grumble*

*cross-posted to creative monday*