Days Twelve to Seventeen
I've fallen a wee bit further behind than I really should have on my 30 Days With a Grateful Heart Project, so to catch up, I'm going to fill you in on all of the wonderful things that have been keeping me too busy to blog about them.
Christmas shopping for these guys:
We are up to eight nieces and nephews, EIGHT! It's an amazing blessing to have so many wonderful kids in our life. They are some of our favorite people in the world, even though most of them are still awfully small. Happy Holidays, R.J., Andrew, Lucas, Bridget, Oliver, Gia, Nico, and Anthony!
Squash
I just can't quit eating squash. First it was spaghetti squash, now butternut. I'm loading up on beta carotene, and having a blast experimenting with this savory yellow stuff. I'm pretty grateful that I gave it a try, because it is quickly becoming a favorite food. Here are some of my recent adventures in squash:
- Curried Squash Stew
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Spaghetti Squash Lo Mein
- Spaghetti Squash with Garlic, Wine & Tomato
Holiday Baking
These are Magic Bars. I got the recipe from Christy of Epicuriosities.com. They are made from layers of grahm crackers, candy, and coconut, and I am looking forward to gifting a huge batch of them to family, friends, and folks at my dear hubby's office. Baking has always been a little bit tricky for me, so I'm grateful to be getting over it, one sweet treat at a time.
Quilting
Another thing I lacked patience for in my youth was quilting. I've always liked to sew, but I was sort of a renegade. I hated patterns, detested rulers, and avoided any and all reason when I approached a sewing machine. Though I still have an aversion to following patterns, I have developed a liking for order. There is something mysteriously calming about making rows of patchwork. For a perfect rainy afternoon give me some beautiful fabric, a pair of speakers blasting an estrogen packed playlist, and a series of empty hours. Me and the machine will happily hum along.
New Winter Traditions
You know that feeling you get when you meet someone and get along immediately, as if you'd grown up side by side? You don't always know it right away when you meet your best friends, but sometimes you do. Sometimes you arrive in a place for the first time and get hit with a wave of backwards nostalgia. That's what it was like visiting The Zilker Christmas Tree last week. I couldn't help but imagine my future kids spinning around under the lights until they fall over, dizzy and giggling. I get that feeling a lot in Austin. My bones feel at home here.
My Saucy Mustache
Don't they always say that something comes along when you stop looking for it? It was certainly true when it came to my latest Etsy project. I've been crafting and selling on Etsy since it launched, way back when. My first shop was called Fiberfly, where my sister and I sold hand dyed yarns and roving. Later, I opened Green Dreams, a bath & body shop, and just after that, Scribble Nation. Scribble Nation was my longest running shop. My friend and I crafted a huge variety of intentionally silly things, and even had a web site full of tutorials and kitschy crafts to go along with it. During our moving and shuffling around the last couple of years, I took a short break from Etsy, than came back with Gora Handmade, now called Mary Makes Pretty, where I sell little bags and pretty things that my Mom and I make together. Though I enjoyed working on all of these shops over the years, none of them ever enjoyed much notable success. That is, until my latest project began earlier this year.
My Saucy Mustache was invented by my younger sister, Caity. I ran with the idea with the intention of rustling up a little extra spending money. I didn't give the whole thing much thought, but perhaps that was the magic touch the shop needed. This holiday season I have made, literally, hundreds of mustache beer markers. It has been insane. I've even made enough money to invest in a die-cutter to take the shop to the next level. Who would have guessed? People love mustaches.