taking down Christmas

Two weeks ago, we finally took down the tree and decorations. I need to find a large tub of some sort to store the decorations and tree stand for next Christmas.

soup, strands, and shelving

It's finally beginning to feel a little more like winter this week. I put some soup together to warm up one evening. The above soup includes veggies with gimme lean sausage and baby kale. Yum yum! I've also started to think about Valentine's Day for my home and the shop. A while ago, I had ordered some hearts and stars cut out from vintage dictionaries and music sheets. For months I have seen great paper garlands and decided to make some of my own with the hearts and stars I ordered. I finished a few strands of them. Unfortunately, my sewing machine decided to crap out on me again and until it is fixed, I am stranded (no pun intended) without a machine to complete them.

I am a fan of using free items whenever I can. I had picked up these black shelves from a free pile in our building a few months ago and just couldn't decide where to put them. This week I decided to add them to my collage above the dresser. This is how it turned out! The drawing in the blond frame was done by one of my friends for Ryan and I one year anniversary. I love the collection of all of these items.

christmas tree decorations

 

Our pile of presents under the tree, mostly courtesy of our parents. Plaid tree skirt made by me.

 

Star ornament from Ten Thousand Villages

 

One of the Polish Star/Porcupine Ball/Sea Urchin ornaments. I made four of them. 

They are made from upcycled catalog pages.

Nestled.

Looking at all of it together, it looks like I have a rustic Christmas theme.

Peeking out.

These ornaments have been fun to make. I may continue to make them for gifts and continued use throughout the year.

nyc for thanksgiving

I will write a larger post another day, but I wanted to post that via train and bus we went to NYC for Thanksgiving weekend. We had a fabulous time with Ryan's mom Sue and family. In lieu of the typical thanksgiving dinner, we ate at an Italian restaurant, where the food listed was written in Italian and the food tasted just as authentic. A day of being tourists, we left the following day. I would love to go back another time to soak more culture in.

happy halloween!

Tater says, "Happy Halloween!" She is wearing a bandana from Ryan's mom.

last few events

 Kale and rainbow chard from the Lowell Farmer's Market. It is close to our house but we went for the first time last week where we purchased apples, apple cider, kale and rainbow chard.

 I am so proud of this shelf. I purchased the right size anchors and screws. I drilled the holes. I installed pieces one-by-one. And now I decorated it. I am not sure if I will keep it this way, but for now I like it.

 I redid my nails with a purple base and white dots. I have never done anything other than just paint my nails a solid color.

Tater is still adorable. This is her at the Cedar Lake Trail near Danvers, MA. Ryan had an engagement shoot scheduled but it rained. We walked on the trail for a while and then headed back home.

we adopted!

On the first of September, we adopted a new member of the family into our home from the local MSPCA. Meet Tater Tot, our two-year-old spunky beagle and bulldog (aka beabull) mix.

Even though she ran away a couple times and peed in our bedroom (once), she has already wriggled her way into our hearts and will no doubt stay there for sometime.