Pretty Gifts For Family And Friends

I decided to make up some toiletries/catchall bags again this holiday season. I happened upon some very pretty vinyl fabrics while out buying notions for Kiddo's school Egypt project that she completed a few weeks ago. Couldn't pass them up, so I have catchall bags for sale this holiday season.

They are so perfect for makeup bags, corralling electronics cords, organizing all the little lotions, lip balms, etc. in one's purse and storing childrens tiny toy pieces. There are so many uses and they make the best gifts for coworkers, family and friends.

Here are the three colors I went with and the bags come in three different sizes: Coin Purse, ($6) Medium  ($12) and Large ($14). Here is a shot that better illustrates the three sizes.

I have a good supply in stock but they are going quickly now that folks are getting more serious about getting their holiday shopping done. This season is going to fly right by, isn't it?! I can't believe it's already December 6. If you're interested in giving some kc accessories catchall toiletries bags for this holiday season, email me at kalanicut @ hotmail dot com or message me on instagram at kalanicutblog.

Come deck the halls with Live Love ABQ at Spur Line Supply Co.

 for our Pinecone Garland Workshop.

Saturday December 2, 2017
10:00 am to noon
Spur Line Supply Co.
800 20th Street NW
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Cost: 25.00 - includes instruction, materials, amazing treat & warm beverage.

Create a beautiful six-foot long garland that is perfect for hanging across a mantle, doorway or window to welcome all the holiday spirit. Mix, mingle and enjoy a delicious treat and warm beverage too. Make this December one to remember when you spend a festive morning with us at Spur Line and create a holiday decoration you can enjoy for years to come. Bring your emailed receipt as ticket. If you forget, no worries, we'll have a list.

Live Love ABQ was founded by lifestyle blogger Kalani Cropper. For more than eight years on her blog kalanicut, Kalani has shared creative inspiration for peaceful, happy, stylish living. She writes about designing a welcoming home, developing personal style and fashioning a beautiful soul.

Can't wait to spend this fun morning with you. Register now, space is limited.

Tourist In Our Own Town: Labor Day Weekend

Without realizing it, seems we've made a tradition of spending Labor Day Weekend as tourists in our own town. This year we slept in and then headed out for adventure time. We did some country and city this year and it was a perfect mix.

We started out at Wildlife West Animal Park. It's a small wild animal refuge. There are often fun events throughout the summer here and on Saturdays they have a chuck wagon dinner during the summer season. There are great birds and large beasts there. We came in the afternoon so at the end of our visit the animals were becoming more active after sleeping through the hot day. 

We really enjoyed seeing how the gray foxes dangle in the trees to sleep, watching the elk from just a couple of feet away rubbing and smacking his antlers into fencing and trees. It was very interesting to see that up close. That is one big rack!

We also saw two cougars up quite close and a black bear which we were glad to enjoy behind a fence instead of in our yard. I guess I haven't mentioned it here but we have had a lot of bear visiting our yard this summer. We had heard there had been no bear sightings in our neighborhood for a few years. Well this year there had been quite a bear problem on the east side of the city. We have seen at least three bears up close to our house, one even opening our back fence and coming very close to our back door just as my husband stepped out to see what had moved the gate. Scary. So we enjoyed watching this bear from a distance!

Our visit seem to last just the right amount of time and we were really pleased with all the animals we were able to enjoy. We had brought a nice little picnic with us which we enjoyed in a shaded shed/pavilion on the property. It was nicely cool in the shade and after being out in the sun for a couple of hours, having cold drinks, fruits, veggies and crackers and cheese were the perfect small meal to enjoy while we sat and relaxed for a while. By this point the park was just about to close, so we had the space all to ourselves which was nice.

We drove back to the city and then went to ABQ Uptown. Some of the shops were closed for the holiday but we had a nice time wandering around, made a few small purchases and then stopped in to try Frost Gelato. We were not disappointed. I tried Marbled Dark Cherry and Creme de Biscotti. The Man tried Avocado and caramel coconut something. Kiddo tried coconut and vanilla. We all tried each other's and had a peaceful time sitting outside as the sun set over the city.

We wandered a little while longer and then drove to Winrock Center, which is next door, and had dinner at Red Robin. By the time we got done with dinner it was 10 p.m. It was a fun day and we were all ready for bed by the time we headed home. It was fun to adventure around our city. We still have so many fun things to see and try. Days like this are great reminder for us to get out and learn fun things about our city and spend time in places that feel like us and that we enjoy.

Where Did That Summer Go?

I can't believe we're two weeks into the school year already! Shocking. I don't understand how this happened. It seemed like the shortest summer ever. It was full of fun, but I feel like I would've like to pack so much more into it. I realize it's been a month since my last post, which is poor on my part. Let's catch up!

It seems like it was Memorial Day just a couple of weeks ago and we were celebrating July 4th with visiting friends and so many wonderful friends from here just days ago. Since then we were able to pack in another golf camp for Kiddo and a visit to my family. Kiddo stayed for a week and had all kinds of fun camping and playing golf with my family. Lucky girl. The best part is that my sister brought her home and we had a fun weekend with her here in ABQ, even though it was WAY too short of a visit.

 We ended off the weekend before school started with a fun barbecue dinner on our back patio. Only the second or third we've had all summer. Aunty Tru made copycat Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookies which were delicious! Here's the recipe she used. For our dinner we had all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, chips, barbecue bacon dogs...oh it was so good and such a beautiful night outside. We need to have a few more of those nights before summer's official end.

It's been rainy and overcast here much of the past four weeks, which makes it feel not very summery. I feel like fall hit us towards the end of July and isn't going to let go. I can't complain about the cooler temps and less intensely hot sunshine but it's a bummer to not be swimming in the pool in the afternoons when it's overcast or raining...not to mention that everytime it rains it leaves a huge amount of water on the pool cover that has to be cleaned off before even thinking about uncovering the pool. Needless to say we haven't been in the pool the past few weeks, which is a big drag.

We've had some crazy, amazing torrential downpours and major lightning/thunder storms in the past few weeks. It's fun for a change of pace, but still I feel like summer is cheating us a bit. Autumn is undoubtedly the most completely enjoyable season of the year here in New Mexico. Along with it comes Balloon Fiesta which is such a fun time to be here in the city.

We are gearing up for school and extracurricular activities to get very busy for the next couple of months. I have always been that parent who insisted kids schedules are not overbooked, but despite my best efforts we're going to be a little bit overbooked for about 8 weeks. But by then we'll just about be into the holidays and things will quiet down again until we get into spring. Life in middle school seems to be going okay which I'm happy about. I'm staying plenty busy during the day managing my little empire, squeezing in some service opportunities and catching up with friends now that all the kids are in school again.

I think this will be a nice fall. Looking forward to it. Yesterday while I was driving home from brunch with a friend as I looked up at the mountains I thought I like my life right now. Things are good. This is not to say there aren't life's major challenges, heartbreaks and frustrations, but counting one's blessings makes if apparent that there is more good than bad in life.

How are you feeling about the last month of summer, the beginning of school and the changing of seasons?

Saying Goodbye To May: Patio Outdoor Space Ready

May is pretty much my favorite month of the year and I am always sad to see it end. With Mother's Day, my birthday and Memorial Day weekend it's pretty much a month long party. Not complaining!
I have so many beautiful cards on my mantle along with fresh flowers and potted plants that have come my way the past couple of weeks. It just makes everything feel so festive.

I have been working hard on outdoor living spaces as I have talked about repeatedly here. I am happy to report that for the past several night we have been out on our front patio, with the solar lanterns lit playing games and having fun. Every day it seems I add something new. First it was a couple of tea lights in jars, then I broke open a big box of wicker lanterns like these on the table above.

Story about those wicker lanterns. In December 2011 (!!!!), we had just gotten engaged and I was in full-blown, excited wedding planning dream land. I found these wicker lanterns at TJMaxx and ended up driving all over the Los Angeles metro area buying them out of every store so that I had enough to use them on the long tables for our wedding. You can see my original blog post full of enthusiasm about having found them here. Well fast forward 6 1/2 years (oh my gosh....) and we never had our big wedding thanks to a little detour called Afghanistan.....and these lanterns, along with anything else I purchased for our wedding have been languishing in storage ever since.

I didn't have the heart to get rid of them, thought perhaps someday we might actually have a vow ceremony/reception of some kind that we could share with family and friends. So in boxes they have sat. Finally I brought one box out and opened it. Along with six lanterns I found a couple hundred really cute paper napkins I had purchased for a pre-wedding picnic or rehearsal dinner or something. Wow. Anyway I put three of these lanterns out on the coffee table on the front porch and they look so fun and festive and create such a lovely light in the evenings...and I feel a little sad that they are going to get used and get ruined without every having served their true purpose but whatever. I have to get over that...

I started making a small buffet table for the back deck with two towers of four cinder blocks and a pretty wood top that I built. I spent part of Friday night at Home Depot with my building plans, trying to figure out the best materials to use and pushing one of those gigantic pull carts that was so heavy I had to totally lean my entire body into it to get it to move. Then I packed everything into my little VW Golf (crazy amount of cargo space, even fit 6' wood plants and 10 cinderblocks with room to spare!).

I have been working on this table since Friday night and hoped to have it done Saturday but it's definitely a work in progress and I should have it done by Wednesday. I have the top done, just need to even out the edges on each side and then stain it and polyurethane it for outdoor use. It's a bar height and will fit our new little portable barbecue grill and leave room for serving food too. You can see the example of the table I'm building here. I'm not doing the sides, just one long 6' length. I figured we can add the sides later if we feel we need them but I think the three-sided table is more than we need and doesn't fit out space all that well. We have a fairly narrow patio but it's very long so a long table along one wall makes great sense for us. I'll share more details when I have a finished product to show you. Excited about it! Really makes my soul so happy to have a creative project.

We also got our temporary, but large and fabulous, bi-fold door/sawhorse dining table out of the shed last night. Hooray! throw a giant tablecloth over that and we have a table to eat at outside. I made a makeshift grilling table out of a 3x3 stack of cinderblocks to hold the little portable grill I picked up at Ace Hardware on Friday. I was looking for a different grill which they have on line but apparently don't carry in the stores.

While they didn't have the one I wanted, they had this little grill on sale for $12.99 and how could I beat that?! Some day we plan on having a nice big grill in the back - and are so lucky to already have a gas line from the house out to the patio -- but until we decide what we want and how we'll configure it all, this little grill will work just fine. I probably should've bought two or three and we could've had an awesome little grilling station for $36. I might still do that. That would get us through some fun entertaining and they are so small and easy to deal with. I like the idea of having three of these on a long table and cooking up all kinds of fun things that way.

I couldn't let Memorial Day Weekend pass without a barbecue so that was my big goal for the weekend. I kept the menu easy and light. Burgers with cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. Here's a link to my hamburger recipe I've been refining for a few years now. I think I've found my groove with the spices in these and they always taste good. I picked up some already cut up pineapple, a big watermelon and chips today and we were in business!

We ate dinner just as the sun was setting with our cafe string lights on, wicker lanterns on the table and a delicious, simple summer feast. We had a great time and after the meal we played with Kiddo's plethora of glow-in-the-dark bracelets, necklaces and other trinkets she's been stashing in a drawer. Nights here in Albuquerque are so perfect for outdoor time. Little to no wind, no bugs, perfect temps so you don't need a sweater. It's just lovely being outside on summer nights here! I hope we'll start eating outside every night we can throughout the summer.

Now that we have everything set up, it should be a cinch to enjoy our outdoor areas as much as we can throughout the summer. Looking forward to having friends over and swimming the summer away. Speaking of which, the pool is up and running as of today --- with just one little challenge. Our heaterless pool is still a little cold. Water temps at 63 degrees. We need some hot sunny days!....or I need to finally order that solar pool heating blanket I kept looking at last year that is supposed to heat pool water up by a good 17 degrees. That would work.

I am so happy we're set for summer finally. Being able to go outside to read, have a cup of tea, relax, take a nap or eat a meal is the best and it just makes our home feel tons bigger when you add these outside rooms where one can go. Hooray for summer. Here are a few more things I am thinking about building for the backyard this summer.

Sectional seating
Dining Table
Outdoor Rugs
Two by Four Bench
Simple Concrete Planters

Revisit & Update: Paper Butterflies For The Window

Last month when I took down the Valentine's decorations from our dining room windows, Kiddo asked me not to take down our sparkly, glittery, big silver snowflakes yet. Since it was still winter I obliged. But now that it's quite warm outside it seemed high time to put up something new. We have an Easter garland up and we continually keep up a garland of pinecones from our yard and a string of twinkle lights then I've just been rotating in and out the seasonal garlands.

Here is a little before photo. This is one of the best spaces in our home and it is so hard to photograph. I frequently want to share it or capture it in photos and I have yet to get a photo of the dining room windows that I really like. The backlighting is a challenge.

The snowflakes hang independently from the ceiling from five clips across that window space. I like them because they can last us from post-Halloween right through to Spring. I wanted to come up with something to hang from those clips that might carry us from spring through summer and then I remembered the paper butterflies I made a few years ago. Here's a link to that post, which was Pin Test #13. The link to the original tutorial I based those butterflies off us no longer works and it seems that the website no longer exists. So I found a similar tutorial that can be found here.

In the original tutorial they used brightly colored magazine pages, which is what I used the first time I made these. In the tutorial I am linking to now it's more structured towards a kids craft so they use tissue paper and pipe cleaners. I think you really can upscale or downscale these as much as you want. I photographed these outside hanging from a favorite tree as I might for a party so that the light would be better. I do love having a few decorations blowing in the breeze for a party, big or small.

I initially was going to use magazine pages again and in fact pulled a bunch and started making a butterfly but I realized I wanted bigger butterflies and maybe something a little sturdier and more classic looking. So I grabbed a pack of 12x12 inch scrapbook paper I had in nice spring colors and started pulling sheets that would work together.

If I could do one thing differently I think I would made the bottom half of the butterflies smaller. I started with a 12x12 square for the top and then cut down the bottoms to 10x10. Looking back at the others I had made before I like that the bottoms are smaller in  scale than the ones I made this week. Maybe they would be better if I went 8x8 or 9x9.

Whipping these up didn't take much time at all. I easily whipped up six in about 30 minutes. I stapled each folded section in the middle to hold it together and then bound the top half and bottom half of the body together with white and silver cord, leaving enough to tie them to the ceiling and have them hang down to similar lengths as our snowflakes, not too far above our garlands.

So now we'll have some pretty butterflies fluttering around our dining room instead of sparkly snowflakes. These butterflies would make great party decorations for a baby shower or girl's birthday party and would be really sweet hanging from tree branches for a garden party. Depending on the kind of paper you use these are one-sided or two-sided. Because I used one-sided scrapbook paper mine are only pretty from the front but no one really sees them from the back in that window. If I was going to hang them where they would be twirling more or blowing in the breeze I would probably use tissue paper, two-sided scrapbook paper - something that looks pretty from all sides.

These are a fun craft to do with kids too and using pipe cleaners is an easy way to get butterfly antennae too. Making them from giant sheets of newspaper or butcher paper could be really interesting. Or you could create simple painted sheets of paper, any size with paints or watercolors and then make butterflies from them. There are so many ways to make these that using a little creativity they can be personalized in size, color, shape and materials. If you try these, let me know. I'd love to see a photo and hear how you made them your own!

The Bug's Patio Birthday Party

Yesterday was The Bug's birthday and the weather was so nice that in the late afternoon I decided to have part of our family celebrations outside and invite our dear neighbors over for presents, cake and ice cream. Children's birthdays always feel a little bit overwhelming as parents, covering all the necessary details even if it's just a family party. There are the gifts, a meal, decorations, cards, wrapping presents, and so many little details that start to feel a little overwhelming. It's amazing how exhausted you can feel at the end of a child's birthday. I almost feel like a big birthday last year was about the same amount of work as a family party...maybe less since we ordered pizza in for 15 girls!

Around four o'clock, as I was coming home from grabbing a few last minute groceries and a beautiful cake, I thought it would be more fun if we invited the neighbors, so I sent kiddo over to invite them. Then I started thinking about how nice it would be if we did all that outside. So I started zipping around the house looking for furniture we could take outside to use on the front patio.

I was rummaging around the house and then headed out to the garage where I found a nice fold-up rectangle table I forgot we had. Grabbed that, a bunch of chairs from the dining room table since we were using our more formal dining table seating area for dinner. Then I found a pretty tablecloth that I actually bought for a different purpose all together and threw that over the table. Started grabbing candles, flowers, cake candles, matches and took that and all the presents outside. I found a few little flower garlands to hang out there in my stash from last year's party.

This also gave me a chance to use one of my purchases from last summer, a covered tray to protect food outside. I gathered all the plates, cups, napkins, cutlery, ice cream scoop, cake knife and server there and took that all out to our table and we were ready for a starlight birthday celebration.

Then it was back inside to make dinner. The Bug requested steak, so we did steaks with marinated mushrooms and grilled onions. Earlier in the day I threw some baking potatoes into the slow cooker and I was so glad that got done early, took absolutely no time and didn't require turning on the oven for over an hour. Then I made Crack Broccoli which we are still eating almost weekly. We're on a big push for more leafy greens and so this is a great addition to our regular menu of kale/spinach smoothies and spinach salad.

Dinner was relaxing and delicious and by the time we got done eating we had about 15 minutes before our neighbors would arrive. We gathered the cake and ice cream, went out and turned on the lights and lit candles. It was fully dark by 7:45 when we saw our friends coming through the trees from their yard across the driveway with a flashlight. So fun. Our neighbor Cathy said the patio looked so romantic, which her husband thought sounded odd, but I know just what she meant and was so glad to know that we'd achieved "magical" and "inviting" with the scene.

We opened presents first. Our neighbors were so sweet to bring her a little ornament from their travels. A woodcut with a bear and fish. Her dad and I gave her some piano books, a book on drawing animals - which is a great talent of hers - and then she opened a few bike accessories which was the beginning of a little trick we played on her.

We told her that since she'd been enjoying riding her bike a lot the past few weeks that we thought she would enjoy a few bike accessories. That included a water bottle & cage for it, bike headlight, taillight and lights for spokes, etc. When she had opened them all, her dad said he thought he might have forgotten one of the accessories and he disappeared to go get it. She was fully engrossed in looking at her new books and was not paying attention to where her dad went or what he was doing.

When he walked up next to her chair with a shiny new bike, she still wasn't looking up. As her dad was walking up to her the neighbors were "Oooh"-ing and she looked up and her jaw dropped. She was speechless. She jumped up and threw her arms around her dad and kept saying thank you. She said thank you didn't seem like enough to really say what she felt. It was a little too dark for an initial ride and we need to adjust the handlebars and seat for her but she walked it around, inspected it, threw her leg over and and got a feel for it for a few minutes.

Her old bike was a little too small for her and we've known for a while that she needed a new bike. She was also very tired of pink bikes, three in a row and had made it very clear that she wanted a
mountain bike that didn't have girl colors. So she got the very boyish Gauntlet bike in camo and orange - and loved it. No more girly bikes with tassles around here!

We capped the night off with a beautiful cake from Whole Foods. I was going to make a cake and was looking forward to trying out the "make a box cake taste like homemade" and "make a box cake taste like a bakery cake" tips from Pinterest, but when The Man suggested I just go to Whole Foods and get a cake I thought that sounded pretty good. Once I got there though it was hard to choose. I love their Chantilly Cake and it is a perfect spring/summer cake with white cake and berries inside and out. But that  is my favorite cake and so associated with my birthday now that I thought I wanted to do something else for The Bug.

Chocolate cakes sounded so heavy, carrot cake sounded wintery. So I settled on a cake we hadn't tried before Strawberry Boston Cream Pie Cake. I knew it was flavors that everyone in our family would enjoy and it felt spring-like and not too rich, dense or heavy. When I told everyone at the table what kind of cake it was everyone reacted with oohs and ahhs so I was glad it seemed like the right choice for all five of us. It was delicious and light and creamy, just as I hoped and it paired so well with french vanilla ice cream too. Even after it was served and eaten The Man had another piece and then cut off another small corner and Kiddo was picking at it. We'll definitely enjoy the rest over the next couple of days.

I am so glad we took a few minutes to throw together something a little extra special to enjoy our front patio, which we've never done, and party under the dark, beautiful, star-filled New Mexico skies. It turned out to be a delightful evening and a good reminder that spur of the moment ideas when implemented can make a night one to remember.

Update & Revisit: Packing For Travel & Teaching Kids How

We are going to be traveling again shortly and I am reminded about something I am continually grateful for. We have a kiddo who has been able to pack her own suitcase since she was four or five years old. Amazing and such a relief when you are rushing to get ready for a trip! A few years ago I created a little picture chart for her to use to be able to pack her own bags. Since then she's become quite a pro and is usually all ready to go long before her dad and I are.

Over the years we have traveled a lot on short notice and we have lived in two locations with a lot of shuttling back and forth so The Bug has had a lot of practice packing and it has been a big help for her to be able to be so independent. Does she occasionally forget something, yes, but we all do no matter how old we are, right? As my travel guru Rick Steves always says, there's usually a store where you can buy what you need when you get there if you have to.

The way my chart worked was that I basically created a standard packing list of how many of each item she would need for most trips and put a picture with each one, since she couldn't even read yet when I first made this chart. If there were three shirts, she needed to pack 3 shirts and if there were two pants she needed to pack two pants. This worked very well! Later I started just writing in a number next to the pictures if it was different than what was on the chart, based on the length of our trip and specific needs. That worked well too.

So before she was old enough to read she could get together her clothing and set it all out so that we could go through it and check her bag to make sure she had everything and then just pop it all in the suitcase or backpack at the end. I still remember one trip we took where we only had about an hour's notice that we were leaving for the airport and she was ready in less than 30 minutes. I think she was seven. She's a good traveler.

Having a good rolling suitcase that she can manage and a backpack she can pack her travel necessities in (blanket, pillow, snacks, drink, books, iPad, etc.) in has made life so much easier. Since she was tiny she's carried her own backpack which has grown in size a bit as she has. Suitcase checks in for the flight, backpack carries us through the flight on the plane. I always packed diapers or extra underwear and extra clothing in her backpack in case of emergencies too. For little kids I like to pack  quite a few small toys and perhaps even a few little fun surprises to keep them entertained on the flight.

For little kids, I factor in that about every 15-30 minutes on the plane they may get bored, so I bring enough things to keep then interested in something new every few minutes for the duration of the flight. For longer flights you can even rotate through what you brought twice throughout the hours. I find this philosophy works well for church as well. I've come to realize that the kids who are usually running unruly all through church or on the plane are the kids who don't have anything else to entertain them. If there is lots to do right there with mom and dad they will stay there and stay engaged. Worked like a charm for us for years and I continue to employ that tactic with other kids I cross paths with as well. I usually still carry a bag with a few toys in it to church just in case and it's amazing how often they get used.

Now that Bug is older, almost 11, I'm not so concerned about entertaining her on the flight. That is really her responsibility now and I assume she'll have a laptop to watch something online if she wants and a book or magazine to read as well. That should do it, thankfully. No more packing stuffed animals, toys and all that jazz.

But I still want to make sure she has a sweater or jacket for the plane, something soft to lay her head on if needed. A thin, down puffy jacket works well as both a jacket or  pillow on the flight and and is nice to have for cool mornings and evenings. I still usually always bring a pashmina with me for the flight as well, which also works as a blanket, scarf or pillow in a crunch. They fold up easily in a corner of a backpack. They often get used by other family members who turn up a little empty handed for pillows or jackets.

I have a good backpack too that I've been depending on for travel for quite a few years now. It has been a godsend for the amount of traveling I've done over the past few years. Everything I carry on has a place and so every trip I know where I'm going to store things and where to find them when I arrive. Having a system down makes things faster when you are packing, decreases the likelihood you'll forget something as you go through each section and think about what needs to go in there and you always know where to find things.

Here's another post about how I keep a toiletries bag especially for travel that is always ready to grab and walk out the door with. It's been a staple for my trips for almost 20 years now. Here's a post about using packing cubes for clothing. I've also been doing this for almost 20 years as well and I like how easy it is to keep everything orderly and organized. It also makes it very easy to have your bags searched if that happens. Having four cubes in your suitcase, one toiletries bag and a couple of shoe bags keeps things looking great and functioning well!

And lastly, this is my favorite travel bag for trips when I know I'll be out and about for long days and doing a lot of walking and wandering. It works as a fairly small over-the-shoulder bag and if needed expands to hold shopping purchases, a lunch or a jacket. I've had this bag for 20 years, it's still in pretty much like new condition except for a little fading. But you would never know it's 20 years old and they still sell the same bag now.

Happy Valentine's Day To You!

I hope you are having a wonderful Valentine's Day with your loved ones. My goal is to get some frosted sugar cookies made today, which is a total tradition in my family. Other than that I think it's going to be a very low key Valentine's Day for us. The Man has the flu as of yesterday afternoon, so I don't even think I will make a special dinner which is also usual tradition. That's a little sad but we are (maybe I should just say "I am") tired this week so it's probably okay. Maybe I'll order a pizza or something fun for The Bug and me. I loaded up on enough ginger ale and 7-up last night for the entire family just in case the flu afflicts us all...again - (we were some of the first to get it in December l-o-n-g before it really started going around the past few weeks).

Yesterday morning, having just arrived back from three days in California, I realized I'd given absolutely zero thought to classroom valentines. Sigh. So as soon as The Bug got home we got working on those and didn't get done until 10 p.m. She made a super cute Fox Valentine's Box for her desk, from a plan I found on Pinterest.

She worked on it for quite a while and it turned out so cute. While she was doing that I worked on her class valentines, because I knew we'd be up all night otherwise. I made a quick template in PicMonkey (thanks for saving me PicMonkey!) and then printed them all out and cut them with a paper cutter and started coloring.This is not homework, so I didn't feel too bad about helping her out! Here's is the card template I created in the beginning to get this project going.

Then we had to run to the store to pick up Extra Gum to add to these. This began a string of frustrating events. First, we wanted the small rectangle packs of gum and all we could find were the larger, almost square boxes which really didn't fit my card...ergh. But we went with it. Then we got home and I realized I had not double checked The Bug's count and we were literally one gum pack short. Super frustrating but at this point I was so tired that I didn't even really get upset.

So once we double and triple checked we really needed one more valentine card with gum pack we got in the car again and headed back down the hill to our neighborhood 7-11 and got more gum -- which cost us twice as much as it had in the multi-pack. So on the way home we had a good conversation about how careless mistakes cost in time, effort, energy and money. Good math and preparedness lessons tonight!

All weekend in California, I was missing my little family and thinking so fondly of home. Then I came home to vomiting and valentines and a part of me wanted to jump right back on a plane for the coast -- sunshine, friends, a clean, quiet hotel room, brand new rental car and solitude -- I won't lie. I think to perk up this Valentine's Day I will go buy some flowers and make some pretty cookies and do something to make it special somehow. Keeping The Bug and me healthy will be gift enough I think! But I sure do hope everyone else is having a fantastic day!

Inspiration Bracelet

The same day I went to the craft store to buy supplies for my Word of the Year sign, I was interested in buying a jewelry charm that I could wear that would help me remember my word for the year. I hoped I could maybe find a charm that said "fearless" or at the very least I could find a charm that somehow reminded me of being fearless that I could make a bracelet out of. As I hunted I came across these inspiration bracelets that come with charms you can attach to a premade band.

I saw these snap charm bracelets and even though their not what I was looking for or would usually go for, I decided to see if there were in fact three snap charms that represented my goals and my word for the year. I was so happy to find "simplicity", "fearless" and "choose happiness" because if there are three things I am really focused on in my life right now those would be it. If I could somehow add "shine" in there it would be perfect.

I used a 40% off coupon for the band and picked my three snap charms and I had a really cool new inspiration bracelet! I think the entire thing cost about $13. There's no way I could've made a bracelet for that price with a leather band, buckle, three charms, etc. My one wish was that I could've picked up this band in a brown leather instead of black but after doing some checking it didn't seem like a brown band was available. Darn...

A fun new addition to my wardrobe, great inspiration and a fun conversation starter too. I picked this up at Hobby Lobby but I know they have similar versions at other craft stores as well. I think this would make a fantastic birthday or friend gift too. Unbeatable price and something you could really personalize just for them - and who doesn't love getting gift that someone was created especially with them in mind! I only wish I'd seen these before Christmas. I could've made this part of gifts for quite a few people I know. But now I know I have a great gift idea in my pocket for any occasion this year!

Pin Test #24: Crack Broccoli

It's time for more Pin Tests! I take a pin from Pinterest and try it out and give my thumbs up, thumbs down or even thumbs sideways with some additional explanation about what I've tried differently that originally suggested. This week's Pin Test (I won't keep you in suspense!) is a total thumbs up. It's deliciously perfect for the cold days of winter and full of "good for you" things like garlic, lemon and healthy dark, leafy greens! Meet "Crack Broccoli" from the blog A Beautiful Plate.

image via A Beautiful Plate

I have been making this about once a week since around Thanksgiving time and it's a hit and every bit of it gets gobbled up. It seriously takes Broccoli to a whole new level. It is so tasty. Can I first sell you something amazing about Broccoli. The big thick stems are not to be cut up and thrown out! Peel the thick hide off them and the insides are amazing, delicious and tender. No matter how I'm fixing broccoli I cook the stems and love them! In this recipe I would just cut off the bottom half inch or less of the stalks and then you don't need to peel them, just slice them up. 

Quick explanation, you slice the heads of Broccoli up like steaks from top to bottom. You can see that in the photo. Then you mix Olive Oil, Pepper Flakes, Garlic and Salt together in a bowl then toss in all the broccoli until it's well covered. (Please note that in this recipe, the salt is listed in the ingredients list but not mentioned in the process of mixing the ingredients. I either add it in with the oil mixture or just sprinkle Kosher Salt on the Broccoli once it's on the pan. I think either works.)

Then you lay it all out on the pan, roast it for 10-12 minutes, then flip all the stakes over and add your Almonds and roast for another 8-10 minutes. Then sprinkle with cheese and a bit of lemon juice.

A few alterations I've made:

1) 475 degrees is a little too hot with our oven and I was continually burning the broccoli. So I am using 470 now and it seems to be working well. No more burning. This is something to gauge with your own oven as they all work a little differently.

2) I use whatever cheese I have on hand and it all tastes good. My favorite is Parmesan, but I've used Cheddar, Monterrey, Monterrey Jack, Mozzarella...whatever I have available. If you want the cheese a little toasty you can add it the last couple of minutes of your roasting time on the second side.

3) The amount of Lemon Juice in the recipe was a little too lemony for my family. I sometimes just skip it or I just add a few drops here and there. Less is more if it gets too intense.

As I said, we are gobbling up this recipe like crazy. I even included it in our Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve dinners. We usually depend on a lot of salads to get our greens but now that it is colder it's nice to have something warm and crunchy to help us get all our veggies in our diet every day. If you try it, let me know how it goes.

Favorite Gifts From The Holidays

Now that the holidays are packed away and we're full steam ahead into the new year,  I thought I'd take a few minutes to share some of my best gifts from the holidays. I got a few things that are really just so ideal for me.

I think it's incredibly hard for little kids to figure out a really valuable and useful gift for parents. So I try to think of things that are in a kid budget and that can be personalized by a kiddo for parents. This year I asked for a binder that I could keep all my latest recipes in. I have a set of beautiful green and white binders where I organized all my printed and clipped recipes I've collected over the years. Unfortunately they are all still packed in boxes because we are still waiting a year later for our contractor to fix our brick floors which continue to sink. They've been "fixed" once but it didn't really work and we've been waiting for them to come back. Sigh. So I haven't really unpacked or set up one side of our kitchen yet where a bookcase will be and where I can store all my binders.

So I have printed out a few old recipes and then I've been collecting a few new recipes and just putting them in a stack in a kitchen drawer. Not super tidy, effective or pretty...plus the recipes were getting food stains on them. Ick. Kiddo, with a little help from The Man, decorated a nice binder with plastic sleeves that I could put those recipes in. I loved it and it's going to be a favorite keepsake for our family, I am sure. It is so nice to have all my most used recipes all neatly organized in the binder!

image via Kohls

Another gift I received that I am really excited about it a great new blow dryer. My old blow dryer died a month or so before Christmas, well it didn't die, but the heat element went out. So that didn't really work so well for me, but it's being used elsewhere for other things that don't require a lot of heat but do need forced air. One of my gifts from The Man was a new Conair Infinity blow dryer and it is the best blow dryer I have ever owned. My hair gets dry so fast and my hair looks super smooth. Amazing.

And there is one gift that hasn't arrived yet that I am very excited about now that it has turned true winter here in New Mexico. My parents got us an oversized king down comforter that should be arriving sometime in the next 48 hours. My parents gave us the money and I did the research to figure out what to buy and then ordered it. It has been so cold here the past week that I cannot wait to add a big fluffy comforter to our bed. We have a queen size one that we threw on the bed a few weeks ago, but it's just a place holder and not very pretty.

image via Amazon

Now with the down comforter I can finally finish up the bed decor for our room. I purchased a dark blue embroidered Nate Berkus comforter cover early in 2016 and it has just been waiting for a down comforter to fill it. Along with that I purchased an olive herringbone quilt to fold and put along the foot of the bed. I wanted to go for a more masculine bed and paired with white sheets I think I definitely hit masculine.

I picked up some pretty light gray velvet 12x18 pillows at IKEA last summer while in Utah to give our bed some feminine touch. I also want to add just a touch of fuschia with some embroidered or patterned pillows of some sort at some point. I did find some I loved at a ridiculous price last winter and I blew it and didn't pull the trigger when I first saw them and when I went back they were all gone. Lesson learned. When  get the bed all pulled together I'll post a photo with some details.

Oh I should also share with you what I got from Santa Claus. He was very good to me and got me quite a few things that were exactly what I wanted. How did he know???? The best thing I got were four books that I've been enjoying since Christmas and am looking forward to looking at again -- all home design and decor books that I've wanted for a while. I got both books from the Young House Love team of John and Sherry Petersik: Young House Love and Lovable, Livable Home, Gabrielle Blair's book Design Mom: How To Live With Kids and Emily Henderson's book Styled.

It was fun to have beautiful and inspiring books to thumb through the week after Christmas! I have read all four of them now, but am looking forward to thumbing back through them and just taking in all the images again for more inspiration. I grabbed a composition notebook and took notes for our house, room by room from the ideas I got from each author.

So there is my "gifts I received" holiday wrap up. I am so grateful for people who love me, know me and were so generous in their giving to me. I love my family. I like that all these things are things I needed and will use - a lot. Can't wait for that first nights sleep under our down comforter and every time I make a meal or blow dry my hair my gratitude warms my heart!

Saying Goodbye To The Holidays

It's a new year and time to reboot here at kalanicut. December was a bit of a whirlwind, as it is for all of us. I'm glad I made an early start of shopping and decorating for the holidays as the twelfth month became a challenging one.

Looking back it's easy to see how things get so busy when there are so many things happening at school with the kiddo, lots of church activities, making and baking to do, cards to get in the mail and so many small details that seem to eat up time. Tack onto that some health issues and you're done. I had several doctors appointments this month, including an MRI on my formerly broken foot. I'm committing to better self care, which takes time and sometimes dealing with some issues you've been ignoring. That's where I'm at right now. We also had a very mild case of stomach flu the week leading into Christmas and in a way it was a blessing.

It stopped us all in our tracks and forced us into downtime mode. I think that blessed our holiday because instead of the usual frenzy of activity the days leading into Christmas we stayed home, watched movies and took care of ourselves and each other. While fevers, aches and more weren't enjoyable that's really about as bad as it got. We were lucky!!!! But feeling crummy kept us in slow motion which was good. I just panicked every time friends came to our door with holidays goodies, fearing they would get our germs and their entire families would get sick for the holidays. So we were very careful about keeping our distance and our germs to ourselves, quarantining ourselves and cleaning all possibly infected surfaces.

I was also glad we hadn't planned any holiday travel because we didn't need to get other people sick and we didn't need to catch that nasty cold/flu that has been going around all over the place on top of what we already had. Whew.

So we slid right into Christmas, made it to church for services that day and enjoyed sticking at home for the better part of two weeks, mostly in pajamas. Having to get dressed to meet the world is going to be a bit of an adjustment after the cozy, comfy, homebound holiday we've had. I realized after the first week that we were all much calmer, more positive, quiet and peaceful than it has been around here in recent weeks. More sleep, less stress, more quietude...these things really do affect mental health and how a family gets along with each other!

We watched almost all the Good Witch movies (still have the last two to go at some point in the future), the Transformers series, some Captain America and a few other things. We also got the When Calls The Heart movie collection which we haven't started yet. We have had a few game nights, lots of reading time and taken several good walks around our mountain neighborhood.

We also spent some time on some home clean up/organizing projects too. We're making some progress. One of our worst projects was spending 4 hours cleaning my car. Getting the dog hair out of the upholstery was a nightmare, but boy does my car shine now.

School doesn't ramp back up until Wednesday so I don't think life will get moving too seriously until then, which I don't mind. We have desperately needed a good long rest. I think we are all ready to get back into more of a real life routine now. Appointments, work projects and many other things will quickly start gobbling up time soon. It's been great to rest and at the same time start collecting inspiration for 2017. I'll have lots to write about that coming up in the next few weeks. Plus I will reveal my word for 2017. I haven't even made my sign yet. Got to get on that. I'm dreaming about vision boards and so many other things. I'll share some motivational projects from the past in the coming days too. Lots of fun conversations to have with you!

Wishing you the very best in this year. I believe, despite fears, worries, and challenges we may be carrying into the future, we can find joy in every day. There are moments of magic every day. There are minutes to be grabbed in every day for pure enjoyment, peace and happiness. And I believe whole heartedly that God is blessing us in every way he can, every day. Happy New Year friends!

Christmas Front Door Decoration

Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving! Last holiday season we were only partially living in our house. We would come after work and do projects, so really the time we spent together as a family was spent here. But we would sleep at the townhouse instead. It was a bit weird. We had Thanksgiving here at the house and decorated for Christmas and celebrated Christmas here even though we were still living at the townhouse mostly.

At some point over the holidays we started spending weekend nights here, I think it was actually Thanksgiving weekend. There was no heat turned on yet and no hot water, so it was more like camping. We couldn't shower here and we used the fireplace to warm the house the little bit that it did.

So this year really is our first year living here for the holidays. I have been looking at entryway holiday decorations for a few weeks, thinking about what I could do for the front of our house. It's a little odd because we have a traditional front door with a walkway that leads from a small parking area for guests. But it's not visible because it's on the side of the house and it has a portico around it so it is protected from the elements which is nice. But it offers zero curb appeal.

On the "front" of our house we have french doors going into our living room as well as a sliding glass door that leads into our family room. So it's very confusing for people coming to the house to figure out what door to go to. It's funny to find packages delivered to any of the different doors on any given day and watching people out the walls of windows try to figure out what door to come to is always a little weird.

I thought if we had guests over for get togethers over the holidays it would be great to welcome them into through the french doors rather than bringing them to the front door where the kitchen, dining room and living rooms all open up to each other. The french doors also open up to a small patio that faces the front of our house, so visually it definitely would be welcoming and pretty as the first impression of the home.

Next I decided to try to coordinate the three doors (two french doors and the front door) with wreaths or garlands or something. I got these great baskets from Cost Plus World Market (using coupons) that really will work for any season of the year. I I can see adding forsythia in late winter, lilacs in the spring, lavender in the summer months with red, white and blue ribbon, and fall maple leaves in their season. The sign on the front can easily be removed and something else tied onto the basket.

It was easy to choose this chalkboard sign for the front door. I got it at JoAnn Craft and Fabric and happily it was 60% off. But it's taking some time to figure out two coordinating signs or ornaments for the french doors. I'll share an "after" on the french doors once they are done.

The greenery came free, when The Man went with a friend who owns a rock and tree business to harvest Christmas trees for his Christmas tree lot here in our neighborhood. Much to my delight, when The Man came home he had brought me a stack of freshly cut pine boughs. He knows me well. I was gleeful! I gathered three bags of pine cones for craft projects from our side yard last week. I got three grocery store bags full of pinecones with a little work. Now I'm brainstorming all the fun projects I can do with them.

Hopefully I'll be able to share a few more holiday projects in the coming weeks. I'm mostly done with my holiday shopping already. Just need three more presents and to finish up stocking stuffers. But I'm really very close to done. The challenge in shopping early is stopping yourself from continuing to shop and shop through December.  Getting shopping done early, I am hoping to have more time for baking gingerbread cookies, going to holiday concerts and other events, and watching cheesy Christmas movies! Yay!

How are your holiday preparations going? Are you procrastinating? Just jumping into it? Already done?

Thanksgiving Is Here

It's hard to believe the holiday season is already here. This year has truly flown by. It has definitely been a busy one filled with a few unexpected surprises and some wonderful blessings, both easily recognizable and some in disguise.

We  are just the three of us this year for Thanksgiving. My family is getting together at my sister's house a couple of states away. We did our big Thanksgiving shopping trip last night and got a cart full of food. Boy was I glad we had two fridges to put food in when we got home. As we were shopping it was quite hilarious to see men with one or two items in their carts or looking for odd items they'd been asked to bring to the meal. Some were buying drinks, others rolls. Then there were the women, who seemed to all be carrying long shopping lists and filling carts to overflowing with turkeys, vegetables, butter, whipped cream, spices and pies.

After trying to get out the door to get to the store for a couple of hours, The Man and I arrived in the grocery store parking lot and I realized I had forgotten my list. Yikes. I didn't say a word but just went to each department and tried to remember everything I needed.

We did pretty well getting everything on our list except for one item I forgot and one that was completely sold out. I wanted to try a tortellini soup recipe this week and realized I got home without buying the tortellini. Oops. And I wanted water chestnuts for the stuffing and had to get down on my hands and knees to reach the right shelf in the store and check to find out that there was not one can on the shelves.

So I made a quick stop at another store today on my way home from the gym. I have been trying to get kiddo cooking more and taking on more duties around the house. The tortellini soup recipe only takes 15 minutes an so I thought it would be great for her to make that for dinner tonight. Sounds so good with some salad and bread.

When I arrived home from the gym today our next door neighbor invited us over for Thanksgiving. So kind of her. Since we're already in process making dinner over here, we decided we'd try to catch up for dessert tomorrow or for leftovers on Friday. We have the best neighbors.

Even though there are only three of us who will sit down for dinner tomorrow we have four pies. Holy smokes. I think we'll be freezing some leftover pie and maybe having some friends over on Saturday.

I am looking forward to starting to decorate on Friday. I've been sitting on my hands all week to keep myself from getting in the attic and pulling Christmas decorations down. The Man is a purist, no Christmas before Thanksgiving. I've said it before but the best Christmas season I've ever had was the year I decorated the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. It was fantastic to have it done and just be able to relax all weekend and going into December.

Hoping to make some pinecone garlands this weekend too. Just need to get to the hardware store and buy some eye screws to attach to the base of the pine cones so I can attach them to a string. I'm planning on glittering some and may dipping some in paint. I've been trying to get there all week and it hasn't happened yet. Today, today. I think there will be a Star Wars marathon this weekend, knowing The Man.

We are thankful and happy for a chance to slow down and consider our many blessings this year. I've definitely been thinking more of those blessings the past few days. Sending you the very best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who will be celebrating this week.

*The image above is from our dining table looking out to west across our backyard and as far as you can see to the horizon. Our little Japanese Maple was so beautiful all week then Monday night a wicked storm blew threw and ripped most of the leaves off the tree. I was so glad I captured the photos I did before that.

Preparing Early For The Christmas Season

It's hard to image that Halloween will be over next week and we'll fully have entered the Holiday Season. I have decided to get out my Thanksgiving decorations this week, just because I think it will take a bit to find them in the new house. When you're unpacking an entire life it's hard to remember where you put everything. Once I know where they are it won't take much to get things decorated a bit. I didn't do anything for Halloween except put up a really cute new garland I picked up at Homegoods and hang a few cute paper bats (also from Homegoods) in the big window of our dining room that overlooks out backyard.

Now is the time to start gathering ideas to do some fun creative things without a lot of stress this holiday season. I always enjoy the holidays more when I get things done well in advance and can just drink in all the holiday fun instead of working long hours.

My first stop for inspiration in my Christmas Pinterest board. This week I've been especially interested in front door holiday decor. As I've mentioned before, you can't see our house from the road so we have no one driving by looking at our house. But we do have people coming by occasionally and I've been wanting to spruce up our front entryway even though it's rather hidden on the side of the house.

I realized though, as I was driving out of the driveway the other day that the double doors that lead into our living room are much more visible when guests come. There is also a nice broad entryway from the outside, including a patio, so this would be a fantastic place to decorate. I'm thinking about having a few small get togethers during the holidays and have realized that using this door allows guests to enter our living room for gatherings, rather than coming to our true front door that opens up right into our dining room and kitchen which isn't always a view I want as a first impression. Open concept DOES have it's downfalls despite it's mass appeal in the home decor world right now.

With two pretty wood framed glass doors along with windows on each side, this entryway into our living room seems like a great place to create a visible, welcoming entryway to our home for guests and events. I have a few bits and pieces in mind to spruce that area up and will look through what we already have and what we can use from the yard since we have a lot of nature all around us.

The Bug is talking daily about how excited she is to sit by the fire with all the holiday decorations up. It does sound cozy and I'll look forward to those first few big snowstorms here on the mountain. We do get the best, most gigantic snowflakes.

The second place I am looking for inspiration is going back through blog posts for ideas I've shared that I'd like to repeat or just try for the first time. Here are a few links you might enjoy that include some fun holiday inspiration.

Here is a fantastic hot cocoa recipe I am going planning to incorporate into our holiday hosting this year.

We love making our holidays more special by enjoying our 25 Days of Christ advent created by our dear friends.

A few suggestions for family gift ideas that will keep the family active, outside and enjoying fresh air together.

From my time living in Denmark, I am pretty deeply in love with Scandinavian holiday traditions. Here are a few favorite inspirations.

And lastly here are some fun ideas for Christmas Tree stands beyond the red and green plastic stand.

During the next few weeks I'll keep posting some holiday inspiration including fun DIY gifts under $10, gift wrap inspiration and more. If there's anything specific you're looking for inspiration on this holiday season, let me know. Hope you have a fun and safe Halloween weekend. We're having a short date night on Saturday while Kiddo goes to a party with a bunch of lively girls. Should be fun for us all.

Apple Picking Time

When we first bought our home there was a lone fruit tree in the backyard, an apple tree and near it the stump of a dead fruit tree of some sort. We closed in the fall and on the tree were maybe five pitiful, tiny apples. We weren't sure if it was just a bad apple tree or if the tree suffered from a lack of water since the house had been unoccupied for a long time.

So our expectations weren't too high for future of the tree but we were curious to see what it would produce this year. I still don't think it got the consistent water it needed to really produce and that leads me to wonder if the apples would be significantly larger if it was heavily and consistently watered. Can't say. But we did get a pretty good little harvest of apples this year even though we lost quite a few to the critters and our dog who enjoys picking the low hanging fruit, playing with it and eating it we still harvested three or four grocery bags of apples on the small tree over a couple weeks time.

Based on the taste and shape I have figured out that these are cooking apples, but haven't figured out the variety. Again it would be easier if the fruit was a little larger and more distinct looking. So far I've made pie filling twice, enough for two pies and I think that's what I'll do with these apples. Maybe I'll just freeze the pie filling and save it for Thanksgiving. That sounds good to me right now. We'll give thanks for our own apples and own beautiful, home baked apple pie.

Earlier this week we cleared the tree of all the remaining apples and threw any that had worms or bites taken out of them from critters over the wall (about 10 feet away) to the deer path where the deer come down the mountain each night about sundown foraging for food. We were happy to share with them. We also have a family of about 10 quail who live under the trees right there and we often see them out eating in the mornings and afternoons. At one point there were about 15 baby quail in the group. Now there is a pack of full-grown birds.

Our neighbors have told us all year that the apple tree is dangerous because it will attract bears. It seemed too sad to cut it down just in case a bear came around but I can tell you that I've been watching closely for any sign of bears and carrying a metal pole and very high powered flashlight outside with me when I have to go out after dark. (Humor me and pretend that is going to protect me, I know it's a stretch. The flashlight is probably a better weapon than the pole since it's completely blinding.)

Part of the tree hangs over the wall of our landscaped backyard, so I have remained surprised all fall that there did not seem to be any apples picked or nibbled on from that side of the tree. This would be the prime access point for bears and deer who could easily reach these branches. All the nibbling has been taking place near the trunk in the walled yard. Still not sure what's been eating those apples but it definitely looks more like bites than bird pecks. We don't have a lot of squirrels here, but have tons of bunnies, who I can't imagine climbing trees through I could be wrong. Maybe it's bobcats? Who knows.

I took the photo above in our kitchen sink. When I walked in after Kiddo had washed and cleaned all the apples I found them in my favorite colander sitting in the stainless steel sink and the lighting was just amazing and the water droplets made it even more beautiful. I'm always surprised at those moments when it takes absolutely no effort to grab an amazing photo. The ceramic colander, by the way, I bought at the riverside flea market in Portland, in 2000 I think it was. It was fun to go back there last summer and I'm itching to go again. Would love to take the family. I keep thinking I need to sneak in a surprise trip there this fall since we have airline vouchers we need to use.

I am watching the weather a little more carefully than normal since I have a potted tomato plant outside. If I play my cards right I think I can get it inside near one of our many windows and maybe even keep it producing over the winter. We'll see. But I know it's going to be a goner if it catches the first winter frost, which could be coming any day. One thing I have greatly enjoyed is NOT battles all the little California coastal gnats and white flies this summer. In fact I did not have to do any pesticide control at all on my herbs and tomatoes. Such a delight! It was a constant and nasty battle in Los Angeles and one that I don't miss.

Have you been gardening? Dealing with critters or enjoying a lovely harvest this fall? Do you still have cutting flowers? I didn't plant any of those this year but would definitely like to next year. Sending you best and warmest wishes. Thanks for coming by!

Here's a link to my favorite apple pie filling recipe. It's easy and delicious which is the best combination of all, right? Betty Crocker's Scrumptious Apple Pie.

Piggy And Dirt Stained Glass Stars - Amazing!

Well as I mentioned last week I have been wanting a collection of these stars for a long, long time now. They are made by artist Kurt Knudsen in Utah and I have loved them for eons! Little did I know the "Christmas Morning" experience I would have when the arrived at my door last Friday night. The USPS box was decorated so beautifully, but I would never have imagined all the little details that would follow!

These are the three stars I chose, but let me share with you the journey to my first chance to see them all. It's a lesson in the ultimate customer experience. I was excited about the stars but I will forever remember the experience of unwrapping the stars!

They arrived in a USPS priority box, but the entire box had been decorated with stamps and paper stickers. Just seeing it got me more excited to open the box. It was obvious that the shopkeepers had put some time into the presentation!

After gently cutting the box open and removing a big pile of high quality, protective craft paper, I found this. Beautiful flowers and butterflies with perfectly matching baker's twine and MY NAME stamped all over the wrapping paper. Impressive. Beautiful washi tape in a variety of matching patterns and colors affixed the card and folded edges. I gently continued to unwrap.

 Each star was wrapped in one big continuous piece of craft papers, again stamped, even with a thank you inside with my name stamped there. The piece of craft paper wrapping the stars was probably 10-12 feet long. It was so fun to unravel, look at stamps and then find each star gently wrapped. Talk about making your customers feel special and giving them a totally unique experience. Wow!

I was just awed by the time and care put into every step of the process.

In the small envelope was a signed thank you note and some business cards to share. You can bet I'll be happy to share those business cards and tell anyone who will listen about my experience, their amazing customer service and all the attention to details.

What a happy birthday present! I am looking forward to my next chance to pick up a few more of these beauties. The only hard part about buying stars from Piggy and Dirt at Etsy is trying to decide which ones to buy.