Celebrating Another Year Alive!

 Game night, Joyce & me celebrating at Terry's.

 My daffodils did NOT bloom for my birthday this year!

 My Sunday morning birthday cake, made by Mickaela! 

Birthday gifts from Saturday night. Wine glass flip flop/coaster!

I was hoping to clean up my garden area & spend sometime in the fresh air over my birthday weekend, but Chicago's idea of April was rain, snow & cold! So, I'm hoping for a do over this weekend!

It all started on a Monday morning!

To be continued for the next 70+ days!
No work, out of the house. More work inside of the house, one handed, with the family, no escape!
Explanation, another day!
A good time to start posting to my long neglected blog since I have no place else to go for a while! There's more than enough things to do at home that I always put off because I'm too tired or don't have time or just don't feel like doing! Now I have the time but not the other arm necessary to complete most of the things on the ever expansive "Things To Do" list!

Regret sucks!

Last minute birthday gift for Dad!

A business card/gift card holder for Dad. He's always had tropical fish & I had this fabric sitting around for another project for him that never happened. It was really quick & easy and I made a second to have for my brother's birthday a couple months from now. He's another fish enthusiast!

By the way, Dad love it & was amazed by the fabric! I guess he's never been in a fabric store!

Happy New Year 2014!

On my way to the airport.

The Start of Something New

More on this later!

1st Breakfast of Spring -Alfresco

The canopy is on the screenhouse in the backyard a little earlier this year than previous years. Yesterday was nice and Mom & Dad were stopping by with my birthday Pansies, and Terry & Fran were coming by later that evening. Since Jeff was around, he thought it should be put up to make it a little more cozy to sit out there. For me, it will just be another thing to worry about with all our abundant Spring rain lately since the water pools up in the corners & has to be emptied.
Although, I must say, it was very peaceful to have a quiet breakfast in the yard with the birds singing to me.
Coffee blended with coconut oil in my CMQG mug, an egg made in my new micro mc muffin maker & the most awesome apple strudel ever, brought as my birthday cake from Mom & Dad, and my 20 Minute Vegetable Gardener book, completed the perfect recipe for a Sunday morning! Thank you Universe!

CMQG Spring Retreat

Chicago Modern Quilt Guild's Spring retreat was the weekend of my birthday!  This pin cushion was a gift from my friend Beth who didn't attend the retreat. How thoughtful & a really awesome pincushion!  Project completed at retreat were the turtle stuffy for a charity event, two pouches for my daughter's soccer bags, make up washcloths, and a composition notebook cover. 

What a great weekend!

Happy Easter

Now that the girls are teens, egg coloring is not a fun event they look forward to as in the past. Since we were gone much of the week of Spring break, they wanted to get out on Good Friday to hang with friends. They had to color the eggs before they went out, so they were completed in record time!

And now for something completely different!

 

Always wanted to make yogurt but thought it was hard to do without a yogurt maker. Realizing that they've been making yogurt for way before yogurt makers & electricity was around, this is the year I attempt to make it. With all the blogging going on, it was easy to find many different ways to make it easier. And since I'm not one to follow one particular recipe, I combined a couple of ways of getting to the final product. Combining the use of a pot on the stove, the crock pot ceramic bowl & the oven, I woke up to perfect yogurt! After straining it for an hour or so, I had delicious Greek style yogurt! I will definitely make it again!

A new recipe

Found out about this easy macaroon recipe from Mark Lipinski's podcast. All you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk & a bag of coconut. I added the drizzling of chocolate to add to the sweetness. They were awesome!

The countdown to Christmas begins with cookies!

The girls needed a treat to take to Young Life, & these were faster, easier & more fun than baking, especially because they had to leave in 2 hours. They were delicious & everyone didn't believe that they made these!

WXRT Party!

Fun night, Free tickets, Free CD with Fun Friend, Maureen!

Anti Black Friday Crafting

Instead of shopping the day after Thanksgiving, I'm participating in Anti Black Friday for the past few years by making a few little things. Gift card holder/wallet, fabric flower, coaster & some cleaning wipes. Mick & I did go to a store, but it was a thrift store & we brought 3 bags of donations, got 25% off our purchase which was around $8. It was a very good day!

Happy Birthday, Karli!

Swirled cupcakes that I made for her "friends" party. All her friends took pictures of these cause they thought they were so cute!

Just finished carving!

I can't let Halloween go by without carving a pumpkin! 

The girls don't really care anymore (teenagers!), but I do.

My Dainty October Mums

My neighbor gave me some of these a couple summers ago. I love that they bloom later & last into November & are such a delicate fresh look before the cold weather arrives.

Cooking with the power out.

 A van took out a main pole 1 block away. Planning to use the microwave to heat up dinner, the menu changed to soup made on the stove with candlelight. Thank goodness I have gas burners!
Of course, the power went back on after we were done eating!

Summer's officially over for us!

 No more screenhouse! :( 

The winds were picking up today & the top was flapping wildly! Karli helped me take it off, fold it up & put it away til next May. I love having dinner with the girls in it. It makes for a relaxing dinner whenever we're outside.

Road Trip with the Books & Bordeaux Book Club

Pretty clear picture from I-55 heading to the Skyway.

A perfect Fall day! Unfortunately, it didn't stay this way for our first B&B getaway. Due to the time of the year, only 4 of us could leave our families to fend for themselves for a well deserved weekend away to Saugatuck, MI.

This was our cute rental located 2 blocks from town. It was very clean, modern & roomy. The gas fireplace turned on with a flip of a switch & warmed us up quickly after walking in the rain all day Saturday.

That's an artists paint palette before Saugatuck. There were many galleries & shops selling local artists works. That's what kept us busy walking in the rain all day.

It was a fun time to go to see all the towns decorations for the Fall Fest that was supposed to take place that weekend but was a little dampened by the rain. We all wondered why the squirrels didn't bother any of these gourds & pumpkins because at home, our squirrels ruin them the minute you put them outside!

We drove around to see the dunes & Oval Beach which apparently is on the list of best beaches. All the colors with the sand was something I've never seen together before. The beach opposite this was really beautiful even with the mist of the rain & gray skies.

It was a weekend of lots of good food, lots of good conversation & lots of good walking, even if it was in the rain! It was nice to get away & enjoy the scenery. I think we're all now a little more prepared to embrace Fall & the coming holidays and all that comes with them. Thanks for a nice weekend, ladies!

Last look before they go on a long trip!

This is the Art Challenge I made for fellow guild member Kate based on the painting, "Party Trees", that she loves, shown in upper right corner

This is the one made for me by fellow guild member Reneau based on the picture of the Chicago Theater hanging in my living room & a piece of 70's floral fabric I picked up at the Allstate Arena flea market that I love!
They are going to be part of an exhibit to travel around the US withThe Original Sewing & Quilt Expo as The Chicago Modern Quilt Guild. How cool is that?!!!
I wanted to hang this in my livingroom but that'll have to wait about a year! Thanks to member Sara H & her professional connections to the show, this is all possible! Thanks Sara!