A friend of mine stopped by the other day to drop off our Christmas gifts along with some yummy baked goodies! She gave us the cutest little box with homemade Peppermint Marshmallows and a few packages of hot cocoa mix. They were absolutely fabulous! Mmm, hot cocoa with marshmallows...it added the perfect shot of peppermint to the drink. Well done, Becky, well done!



You know, there are some points in your life that are huge milestones in your development. These moments define who you are and who you are going to be..your first step, your first love, your first serious relationship...your first completed knitted project!!! After years of laziness, I have finally finished a scarf. There are so many things that helped me get to this special place: first, I'd like to mention my knitting needles. I know there were some dusty times where you weren't picked up for months but stuck in there with me anyway. I'd also like to thank my yarn for being so wonderfully chunky. If you had not been so easy to knit, you'd probably join all the dusty projects in the back of my shelf. Unfortunately we will be parting ways (hope you enjoy the cold Chicago weather) but you'll always hold a special place in my heart as my first finished scarf.

Hah, too much hot cocoa can make you a bit crazy.

Happy Holidays to all the wonderful bloggers out there!

Vanessa

edit: after reading copacetic's tree entry I just had to post pics of our sad little tree! We really did have the best intentions when we set it up; lights, ornaments, the whole nine yards. As the weeks went by, though, we got busier and setting up the tree was the last of our worries. Last weekend, a couple of friends gave me these adorable Muppet toys and what better place for Muppets than in a tree, right? Hah, check out our tree topper. Silver Surfer in all his glory! We love those crazy kids over at Copacetic!

Whew, busy, busy, busy. I got so many things done yesterday that when it came time to go to sleep, my head was still going 100 mph trying to figure out what else needs to be done. So if this blog entry is a bit scattered...you know why!

Jim's bosses are vegan so I made Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies last night. The batch made more than 50 cookies so we'll be eating these yummy pieces of goodness forever. We couldn't stop eating them last night...maybe all that sugar was another reason I was a bit restless last night.

Here's the recipe in case anyone's interested:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

<---------- Album Cover

After reading GnomeG's post on sending out Holiday Mixes, I decided to put all other craft projects on hold for one day so that I, too, could make a mix. After finding the songs I wanted, I couldn't just have any old CD cover so I spent the better part of an afternoon (yikes!) playing around with different cover ideas in Photoshop and Illustrator. It was kinda nice knowing that I had a million different things I should have been doing but instead was enjoying playing on the computer while listening to Christmas music. It did my dwindling Christmas spirit some good.

Just in case you're curious, here are the songs I picked:

Cheers to Christmas
Fabulous Holiday Songs to Celebrate With, 2004

1. The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year - Andy Williams
2. Please Come Home for Christmas - U2
3. Run Rudolph Run - Chuck Berry
4. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
5. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Bing Crosby
6. White Christmas - The Drifters
7. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - BNL + Sarah McLaughlan
8. The Chanukah Song - Adam Sandler
9. The Christmas Waltz - Doris Day
10. Winter Wonderland - Louis Armstrong
11. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Frank Sinatra
12. The Grinch - Thurl Ravenscroft
13. A Merry Little Christmas - Bing Crosby
14. Little St Nick - The Beach Boys
15. Oh Holy Night - Nat King Cole
16. Christmas Song - Dave Matthew's Band
17. Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
18. Santa Baby - Madonna
19. Let It Snow - Harry Connick Jr.
20. Jingle Bells - Ella Fitzgerald
21. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
22. Merry Christmas - Ramones
23. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
24. Sleighride - Brenda Lee
25. Bells will Be Ringing - Eagles
26. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
27. Merry Fucking Christmas - Mr. Garrison

Ack, Sew Charlie's Coats are reason enough to get a dog (hint, hint Jim!).

Remember, today is the deadline for most Indie Shops to deliver on time for Christmas!

Jim and I were one of those silly people that braved the mall last weekend for holiday shopping. I guess it's better than going this weekend! And before someone leaves a snooty remark that "blah, blah, blah, the mall? I thought you were an indie shopper blah, blah, blah." There's really no point in giving amazing handcrafted gifts to people who won't appreciate them.

Sunday was great, though. We started off with breakfast at our favorite local deli (kinda funny since we're vegetarians...we like the bread and coffee there) where we formulated our game plan. Off to the mall (which actually, wasn't bad at all...I think it was because it was on the westside), a quick stop at the thrift store for me (how bad was that?!#@$ But I found a really cute vintage sleeveless ski jacket and some amazing fabric!)and then the dreaded visit to K-Mart to pick up some of Martha's wrapping paper. The wrapping paper so pretty and since it isn't very Christmas-y, we can use it year round. In one 12 hr. sweep, we crossed all the store bought gifts off our list...AND they're even wrapped under our tree! All we need to do now is finish the gazillion homemade gifts we're making. Ack!

A drive through Eastridge (a neighborhood that is known for their Christmas light decorations) and watching a Star Trek episode while snuggling was the cherry on top of a perfectly wonderful day...even if we did have to visit the mall!

How's your holiday shopping going?

Woo hoo, I'm officially done with this semester! Would someone please hand me a beer.

I was finally going to post some Halloween pics (and send some of them to you, Becky) but I'm an idiot and forgot to save them to the computer before erasing them from the camera. I'm actually really sad about this. :0(

How's your holiday shopping going? Since we're on a limited budget (damn school!), we'll be making a lot of our gifts or trading Gerbera stuff for gifts. Let me know if you're interested!

Some Wonderful Indie Gift Ideas:

For the knitter in your life:
Beautiful Yarn - Pippi Knee Socks
Knitting Journal - Cactus Pony (care of Plain Mabel)

Even Babies Need Gifts:
Sushi Onesies - Charm School
Peas and Carrots Hangers - Spunky Turtle
Funky Skirts for Girls - Textile Fetish

Four-Legged Friends Lovers:
Doggie Treats - BunniGoods
Puppy Packs - Pink Thread & More

Do you ever wonder how the significant people in your life
know you so well and then love you anyway?

Ugh, Finals...