Done, Done, Almost Done

I'm so proud of myself for making sure all of my handmade holiday crafts were finished & shipped out on time! Ok I lied, just 1 project went unfinished which was our Christmas stockings. But no biggie, at least no one was waiting for them to arrive in the mail. I am however disappointed in my efforts to keep my blog up to date. So, my new years resolution is to keep this baby running!

Here are the 10 ornaments that i made for the ornament swap. I'm so excited for how they turned out. I wish i could have kept them all for myself!

My friend Jamie's ornament made it to the flickr pool of some of the ornaments that were swapped....yay!

jamie's pompom mitten :)

These are the ones i received from all over the world....I loved finding a package in my mailbox everyday and not knowing what was inside.... what pleasant surprises!! I can't wait to do it again next year!






Since I was having so much fun making fabulous ornaments, burgerboy asked if i would make an ornament for each one of his 40 employees at Five Guys. Delighted, I accepted the great task and here's how they turned out...a plush soft drink cup to hang on their trees!

Now that the holidays are finished, i just need to finish my stockings and i can cross all my handmade christmas projects off my list...hooray!!! But they'll have to wait til i return from my trip to brazil. The beach, hammocks and waterfalls are far more important than handmade stockings...ill post the pics once they're done!

Oh Happy Day!

What a wonderful day it was on Monday. The art dept received new office chairs from Staples YIPPIE!!! The search for a comfy chair has finally ended. The mesh seat is oh so nice! And so is spinning in them!

Look how happy we are in our new chairs!

I can finally retire my good old purple beast from the 70's. No more wondering if I'm going to fall and break my neck when the wheels decide to pop off and no more sitting on a half a circle seat.

Ribbon & Fabric & Ornaments...Oh My!

Sunday I stopped by Gethsemane to pick up some plant food for my dying orchid plant and was pleasantly surprised that their holiday open house was going on. Of course I couldn't leave without peeking around every corner of the store to see all the wonderful things that they have....upside down trees, glittery acorns, hand blown ornaments from poland, ribbon, ribbon, ribbon, garland galore! did i mention ribbon? I couldn't help myself but to buy 2 glittery acorn ornaments & a surprise ornament for donald. and of course the reason for stopping, the plant food! Although I don't see the sense in spending $35 on an ornament that i'm just going to drop or step on while trimming my tree, they sure are pretty to look at...for hours! I had to keep telling myself "it's ok if i don't have lots of pretty ornaments on my very own tree this year...just wait til the end of the season and buy them on sale!" If not, there's always hope that I can win the $250 raffle and splurge on one before christmas!

After searching online yesterday to find a cute Christmas stocking pattern, I came across an amazing swapping website (swap-bot) that's hosting a handmade ornament swap. Once you sign up, you're given 8-10 names that you will need to make an ornament for and in return you will receive 8-10 ornaments. How cool is that?!? Maybe my tree won't be lacking pretty ornaments after all! I just couldn't wait to leave work and run to the fabric store to buy stuff to make my ornaments. After spending $22.91 I have enough fabric, ribbon, pom-pom balls and jingle bells to make 100 ornaments! Good thing I'm getting a head start on my holiday crafting! Here are a few pics of what I made last night:

Yes We Can!

Last night was ohhh sooo wonderful! Friends, champagne, thai food and Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States!! What more could a person ask for?!?! The only thing I could've asked of myself was to stay awake for the last 17 minutes of his rally in Chicago so i could hear his victory speech. But in true Allen fashion, I passed out on the couch right before he took the stage. Not to worry, on my morning break at work i was able to watch his speech online and was sincerely moved...shedding a small tear.

In searching the internet to find his victory speech, I also came across so many interesting blogs reporting on the campaigns, the election and Barack's victory. Most were positive but of course theres always a few cynics. I thought i would share.....

** This blog has some great images of people from all over the world and their reaction to Barack's victory.

**Below is an excerpt from another blog which shall remain nameless. Boy, they must feel stupid after last night! Could you imagine if this guy was elected?!?

" I don’t know who on Obama’s campaign had the bright idea to base their campaign strategy on a huge turnout of young people. Have they actually met any young people? Let’s face it, young people today are the least reliable, laziest, stupidest generation in our nation’s history. If we had known that baby boomers would end up spawning such spoiled, self-absorbed progeny, we would have had them all sterilized. Historically, young people don’t show up to vote, anyway, but this year promises to be even worse. Just as Obama Girl couldn’t manage to vote in the primary because she had to wash her hair or something, most young people won’t be able to summon up the energy to get out of bed or stop playing their video games long enough to show up and vote for Obama. I’d be surprised if these dimwits even know how voting works. On Election Day, I expect, millions of young people will be frantically texting their friends trying to find out the number of the Obama hotline to call to cast their vote. Unfortunately, these idiots are our future. I hope I die before they get old."

Congratulations to everyone young & old for voting!

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow. --Barack Obama 11/4/08

Yummy Sweetness

Our weekend in Savannah came and went quickly and we didn't get to do everything on our to-do list---eat pizza at one of my favorites, vinnie van go-go's (so sad)----learn how to cook Vietnamese food (but we sure ate lots of it and boy was it yuuuuuuummy!)---go on a ghost tour...

but it was so great to see everyone and finally meet the twins!

It seemed like all we did was eat all weekend long! Mothergoose had her first taste of grits and eggs, Mommy D's egg rolls & bun thit heo nuong (2 of my favorites!!!). Bun thit heo nuong is a Vietnamese rice noodle dish served with grilled pork. yum!

bun thit heo nuong

In helping Mommy D prepare for the baby shower, I had my first experience of peeling shrimp. I can't even say i enjoyed it just a little bit...it only confirmed my reasons why i don't eat shrimp unless its deep fried and tastes more like a coconut than a shrimp! She made a wonderful spread of vietnamese dishes with enough left overs to feed us for the entire weekend!! How lucky we are that she's such an amazing cook! Mothergoose copied down some of her recipies so we can make them back home in Chicago.

vietnamese spread and michael's head

Our trip to the Pirate House was another delicious meal despite the fact that the crab stew didn't agree with Captain J and i forgot my eye patch and Arrrlene at home :( We enjoyed a southern buffet with Honey Pecan Chicken, Squash Casserole, Sweet Potatoes, Buttermilk Biscuits, Banana Pudding & more!

poor Juan!

My favorite part of the trip was definitely spending time with the babies. Although babies don't have much of a personality until they're a bit older, I found myself in awe, staring at them for hours!! Everything about them is so sweet...their tiny little fingers, their baby smell, the funny faces they make when they're stretching AND pooping! Ahhh sweetness!

Georgia On My Mind

As the week finally comes to an end, Georgia is definitely on my mind! I'm in much need for a little weekend getaway. Tomorrow we're headed to Savannah to see Emory & Grayson, the first Doan grandchildren. I'm so excited to meet our twin nieces for the first time!!

Mothergoose is coming with me, her first trip to the good ole peach state. Too bad peach picking season is over already but at least we get to go pumpkin picking next weekend though...yippie! We have a fun filled weekend planned so no need to cry over peaches.

So far here are our exciting plans:

* baby shower

* river street

* grab a slice of pizza at vinnie van go-go's...yum!

* forsythe park

* a ghost tour

* dinner at pirate house (can i wear my eye patch & bring Arrrlene?)
* learn how to cook vietnamese food

Lisa & I with Arrrlene (parrot)

Well gotta run...time to pack!

Where's My Frequent Buyer Points?!?!?

One of My favorite stores happens to be Michael's. I could spend all my money there (besides the apple store). And I do spend all my money there! due to their really annoying coupon policies. how great would it be if they would let you use more than 1 coupon at a time...even ones that are expired! or how about a coupon for your entire order once in awhile instead of off just 1 item?!? my other favorite store bbb does it, why can't Michael's? Or at least offer some sort of frequent buyer point program..sheesh!

Well, enough complaining about my favorite store, on to more exciting things like these awesome new circle cutters that i found there! I can't decide between the curvy cutter or the circle scissors...hmmm?!!? no more making circle patterns out of upsidedown cups and plates!

A Headache & Blisters

My head is pounding and my fingers are covered in blisters. Why you ask? A late night of crafting with a glue gun! I need to work on my gluing techniques so I stop burning my finger tips..it makes it very hard to type the next day!

Tuesday I received a call from a Barbara Glass from Lake Magazine to see if I would make bouquets for a wedding photo shoot this weekend. I was delighted for the opportunity to have my work published in a magazine so I had to get to work fast to meet the deadline. The past 2 nights I've been up very late making bouquets, boutonnierres, flowergirl baskets & headwreaths...hence my pounding headache!

Here are a few pics I took last night. Once I get the pics from the shoot I'll post them on here. Til then, I need to get my etsy shop up and running!!!

Thanks to Erin Casey from Bella Bridesmaid in Chicago for the referral!

Up & Running!

After creating my blog months ago, I've finally decided to start blogging! This blog will be my creative space to display all my projects and whatever else I find interesting!

This past weekend my college roommate Angie took engagement pictures for burgerboy and I. We started off in the West Loop and then headed back to Lakeview to take pics in front of the house burgerboy used to live in (where we met).



Check out her blog to see a preview. Can't wait to see the rest! thanks Angie!