Christmas cookies

My good friend Rachel and I got together and made the motherload of christmas cookies.  We made sugar, molasses, and snowball cookies.  Molasses cookies are definitely one of my favorites. The recipe said to chill the dough overnight does that seem a little excessive?  Anyway, we had fun and it made everything seem a little more Christmas-y.

Coolness!

One of my friends Shara painted one of my photos and it looks sooo good!  WOW! She painted it a while ago and I can't believe I hadn't seen it before.  I guess I just stink at looking at people's blogs and such.  But talk about a compliment! You can see more of Shara's art here.

Pointlessness

Here is another video.  It's pretty boring so here is my apology beforehand. I just thought it would be fun to take you all with me when I went to pick up one of my prints.  But now I'm not sure if it was a good idea because my voice sounds so weird and annoying when I hear on the video.  So I apologize for my annoying voice.   McKay and Laura met me at Ritz Camera and then we caught the T to her place to have dinner. We had a good time.

Holiday Pops

A couple of days ago my friend Rachel called me up and said she had free tickets to the Boston Pops Holiday concert and asked if I wanted to go.  Of course I went! My favorite Christmas song of all time is Sleigh Ride and I was so excited to hear it. They like to play that song a lot over here on the radio and I enjoy it every time.

 They played in symphony hall and it was really beautiful. The music was so good that it just gave you long-term goosebumps. They brought in the guy who reads the Harry Potter books on tape and had him read The Night Before Christmas with cool music in the background, sing-a-longs, and a special tribute to the soldiers.  It was amazing.

I took two video clips of them playing two songs I love, Hallelujah and Sleigh Ride.  I would have videotaped the whole concert if I could.

Need Some Cheering Up?

These are a few things that make me laugh. Maybe they will make you laugh too.

Thanksgiving

Here are my only two pictures of Thanksgiving.  You don't really have time to take pictures when you are cooking like a mad woman.  We made turkey, gravy, yams, frog eye salad, pumpkin pie, and stuffing.

 We brought all of the food downstairs and had dinner at the Tylers apt.

And speaking of thanksgiving I thought this was nice

Quiet Book

My friend Delys and I are using our time to make a quiet books.  I figure even though I don't have kids right now might just be the perfect time to make one of these bad boys.  I am learning lots of sewing techniques that is for sure.  Most of these designs are not original and I am just re-doing them with a little more oomph.  The main websites I referred to are here and here.

These are my lovely flowers with velcro on the backs.  They were originally supposed to be unbuttoning flowers but after a few slip ups plans changed.  I also didn't to think to attach the velcro to the back of the flower before I made them.  Only until I was all done I thought "How am I going to get this on here?"

Here is my hungry little caterpillar with little snap-on body segments.  His cocoon can be used for storage.

Here is my peekaboo halloween house.  My mother said this may traumatize my future children.  There is only one way to find out i guess.

I LOVE the barn.  This is one of my favorites!!! My mom bought me a buckle for the doors and inside I made little finger puppets!  Finger puppets are just about the easiest thing in the world to make so never buy them.  And my mama hen's wing flaps up and down fyi.

I love this page too.  The mailbox door opens and shuts and there is something that needs mailing.  The flag rotates so the mailman knows when to pick it up.

On the back of the mail I put a picture of McKay and I so it will slide into the felt mailbox.  Felt on felt doesn't slide very well. I have heard people laminate their pictures but I just used packing tape on the front and back and it works. 

The last page I have is the camping page.  This was my very first zipper i have ever sewn and technically it doesn't look that great but it still is an achievement.  I want this scene to have more in it and McKay suggested a camping chair.  Brilliant!  Now how I will make a camping chair out of felt I will never know.  Perhaps Joann's has an iron-on chair thingy. 

Well, that is all I have done so far so stay tuned and I just might have some more.  I have plenty of ideas that need to do like a garden, robot, Bill Grogan's goat, birdhouse, mittens, and a street. If you have seen any cute stuff let me know.

New England Wreath Making

The Cambridge ward has had the same RS Christmas party for the past 50 years. They have a musical program and then wreath making.  It is the party of the year over here apparently.  They ordered three huge piles of Christmas Tree branches and we all grabbed some wire and started getting sticky.  This wreath smells amazing! I made one for me and one for Sue.   It's fun and easy and a great thing to do if you have lots of scraps from a fresh tree.

At the end of the night I stuffed the wreaths in a garbage bag and protected them from all of the people on the train.  Luckily I had a seat :) 

The Pink Panther and Other Jewels

I went back home a month ago to watch Adam in his school play.  Plane tickets to get down there are $40 and the flight is only ONE HOUR!  I'm so used to the 4 hour drive and 6 hour plane trip to get home so this is a pretty big change.  When I was home I went through a couple boxes and I found this treasure.  My old jewlery box!  Plastic dress up necklaces, old broaches, and bracelets from my great grandmother brought back the memories.  I'm sure I would have thrown all of this stuff away if I found it as a teenager but my mother protected it from me.  I have decided that if I have girls I am going to do the same thing for them.

My ballerina is missing a tutu.  Does anyone know how to make a one? a teensie one?

I also had the chance to hang out with some of my friends from back home.  It's funny b/c now we are all old and married.

And last but not least, The Pink Panther.  Adam was Inspector Clouseau and he was the greatest.  Bumbling around the stage and talking nonsense was very natural for him and it was very funny.

Right: Adam and the Russian spy have dinner.  Left: Adam "standing tall on the Poopdeck of Justice"

The tree

I have been kind of sad that we weren't going to have a Christmas tree this year.  We were spoiled in Idaho when we could get one for $10 but not this year.  We were going to be without and it kind of made me a little sad.  But that was until my landlady told me we could have her old one.  She said that since she was getting old she wanted a pre-lit tree so she wanted to give us her old one.  Isn't she wonderful?  What a miracle!

So here is a very long video of us decorating our christmas tree.  It's nothing exciting so if you are expecting it to get better it probably wont.  I just wanted to do something different and easy.  I am apologizing beforehand because we look like bums.

Blog stalking

When I am bored I love to stalk people on the internet and I actually find a lot of cool things.

First order of business is the Mud Run.  It's a 10k mixed with an obstacle course.  Looks pretty amazing to me! It's in Midvale so I'll have to figure out how I will get over there to do it.  Maybe it will have to be after  McKay graduates.  They do team races too, doesn't it look fun?!

I already told you McKay and I are addicted to the Shaytards?  One of the reasons why I think we like it so much is because it is our only window to back home. Fast forward to 7:07 and I started crying b/c I missed our piece of crap Jetta (those stupid belts), then because I missed the SLC parking lot.  Fast forward to 10:03 and I started crying b/c of I-15, the snow, the scenery, and the highway, Inkom, and Century high school.  I never went to that school, or liked it, and it looks like a maximum security prison but apparently I miss it. 

I have been stalking other people for quiet book ideas (my latest project) and came across this very cool Star Wars one. Click on the link and scroll down to see the awesomeness!  

Other holiday ideas I like are this wreath and this flower (you are supposed to make 100 of them and string them together to make a garland) pretty cute!

As far as cute desserts go I found these cupcake bites and they look so fun!

What cool things have you found blog stalking?

music

I love this song and the video.  It's been out for a little while so I'm sorry if you have heard it already

I like these other songs even though most of them are old

Birthday

 Fall is here and it is very beautiful.  If anyone wants to visit boston I definitely recommend to come in the fall.  It is just gorgeous.  This is the view from our kitchen window and you can see some trees that are changing.  pretty nice.

Today is my birthday too.  McKay went and bought a birthday cake from Mike's Pastry shop in the North End.  He came home in the pouring rain carrying this beautiful cake.  I have never seen one so beautiful before.  It was delicious too, Chocolate moose, with strawberry pieces in it. If I make McKay's birthday cake I will never be able to top this.

McKay got me boots and a backpack too. I have never had boots that weren't snow boots before so this was exciting wardrobe milestone.  In this picture I met McKay at school for a birthday lunch in the city.

These roses are grown in our front yard.  Sue cut me some and so the are just brightening up my kitchen with happiness.  Oh how I love fresh flowers.

 A tree near McKay's school

On the way to his school still.

These pictures are from when I took a tour at Harvard.  I'm thinking about being a prospective student.  haha not. It is the most beautiful campus I have ever seen.  In a nutshell it is just like Hogwarts.  Students are divided into houses like Gryffindor and Slytherin and that is just so funny to me.  They even have that great dining hall (no floating candles.)

 One interesting story I learned is about that red building with the white windows up at the top.  George Washington and his men stayed there while they were recuperating from battle.  They stayed for the night and melted the doorknobs so they could make more bullets.  After America won it's independence Harvard was one of the first to sue the new country for the property damages caused by the desperate soldiers.  Kinda interesting huh?

Halloween in Salem

We failed Halloween.  A big fat F-.  We didn't dress up or go to a party. So when the big day came we decided to go to Salem, MA with people from McKay's school.  Home of the witch trials.

Lots of people were dressed up in really cool costumes.  All the skanks come out after dusk so I'm glad we went during the day.

See look, REAL witches!!!

This place is really commercial on Halloween.  It was basically like a fair or carnival with tons of greasy food, rides, and crazy things you need to pay money to see.  We went to a museum that basically just reenacted The Crucible.  I hate that book with a burning passion.  I just hate what happened, pretty jacked up if you ask me.  Anyway I wanted to go in a haunted house or something but we didn't so that. I guess we have something to look forward to next year.

I LOVE this cottage/shed thing.

There were tons of "real" witches there and they were all trying to make a buck by reading your palm or whatever.  That's what the upper left picture from below is all about.  These people are all doing the Tarot card thing.  It was hilarious because the customers would hang on to their every word and were all dead serious about it.  

They also were selling herbs and spices for WAY more than what they are really worth.  It's because the ones they were selling had medicinal qualities.  But BAY LEAVES?! really people.

Weird stick roof!

Sheesh! Look how hairy McKay is...  No worries people, I already gave him a haircut and trimmed that dang beard.

These cool vines were crawling over everything! Houses, fences, gravestones, you name it and it takes over.  It's definitely one of my favorite things to change color in the fall.

It was quite a long day and we looked forward to our Harry Potter style train ride home back to Boston.

The Greek Corner

So couple of weeks ago I received an email from my aunt saying that while she was watching Diners Drive ins and Dives she saw a Greek restaurant in Boston that was owned by two Boretos brothers. Since the restaurant is now famous and the chances of us being related are more than likely McKay, Delys, John, and I went to go check it out.  These pictures are of our fun night. Unfortunately George or Themis were not there but we will go back sometime and say hi. 

 When I got home I did some research and tried to figure everything out and got some interesting information. I'm pretty sure George and Themis' father was a cousin to my grandfather.  I think.  I also learned that the last name "Boretos" is thought to come from the Italian word Umbros/Embros meaning merchant/shopkeeper.   Themistocles is a popular name in the Boretos lineage and has been passed down for a long time and sometimes in the form of Thomas. Ta Da!

The furthest back I could go was to Themistocles Boretos (b. 1825, d. 1920)  I don't really know much about him but this picture.

In addition to Guy coming to their restaurant they have also been on the Best of Boston list.  The lamb was heavenly!!! Guy put one of their recipes online and now I have a family recipie to try called Pastitso. We will see how it turns out.