Waterfront Paradise

Joel and I were lucky enough to be able to get away for 24 hours to celebrate our 5th anniversary (A huge thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Thompson for crowd control while we were gone).  We headed down to the Chesapeake Bay.  We stayed at an adorable 1800s Bed and Breakfast Inn outside of St. Micheal's, Maryland. 

  This is the view from the porch off of our room:

 We actually stayed in the annex next to the main house.

There was no TV or Wi-fi.  It was perfect for us to just get away and unwind.  First thing we did: sat on the dock and watched the sunset.  The unseasonably warm weather was the cherry on top of an already fabulous evening. 

So relaxing......There goes the sun:

Once the sun was long gone, we headed to town.  Since it was off-season the entire town was pretty much shut down by 5pm, so there wasn't much in way of window shopping, but that's alright.  We headed to dinner at a really cool, local restaurant.   We don't eat a whole lot of seafood, but when staying at the Bay how can you NOT branch out?!  We had crab cakes and rock fish and Joel also tried ceviche (made with salmon) for the first time.  The highlight of the meal was actually the orzo sitting in a basil remoulaude.  Yum!!

 The view is just as nice in the morning.  :)

The best part of the trip? (Besides spending time together alone- obviously):  Waking up at 7am, cuddling for a couple minutes and then rolling over and going back to bed until 8am.  With a son that regularly gets up by 6am, it was sheer decadence.  Yay for sleeping in!

For Your Reading Pleasure

Here are some lovely books about Thanksgiving:

I love turkey sandwiches the day after.  Ok- who's weathering the storm of Black Friday today?  Maybe I should ask if you've already been out since practically everything opened at midnight this year. I still haven't decided if I want anything badly enough to deal with the crowds today, but we did have a little fun at Toys R Us yesterday. We waited out in the cold for two hours to just get into the store. Call me crazy, but I thought it was a lot of fun. My husband was totally a good sport and went with me, but he has informed me that it's not an activity he plans on repeating. Hee Hee. Happy shopping everyone.

An Extra Special Thanksgiving

Not only is it my favorite holiday, but it's also my five year anniversary today!!!  I can't believe how it feels like we were married just yesterday and yet it also feels like we've been together forever.  Does that make sense to anyone else besides me? :) 

Happy Anniversary, my love!  It's so wonderful to be married to my partner in crime and best friend.  Here's to another year as amazing as the last.  I love you!

Last Minute Progress

It's been an odd and extremely busy week.  Anyone else feel like sometimes getting ready for vacation is just as much work as a regular job?  We're on our way to the Commonwealth State (aka- Pennsylvania) for some fun Turkey Day celebrations with family, but I did manage to get a couple of things done before we left. 

1- I got one Christmas block and a Christmas table runner done (blogged about here).

2- Skill builder:  I was hoping to get it done before leaving, but the only thing I was able to do was cut most of the pieces out.  I guess this will have to wait until we get back.

3- This is most exciting finish of the week- I made my first pot holders!  I seriously love them.  I'll definitely be making more.  They're not too difficult to make - just a little thick under the machine.  I used My Girl Thursday's tutorial.  I used slightly different materials, but LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how they turned out.  Here's what the back looks like:

Stats for the Week:

New projects - 3
Completed projects - 3
No progress-  Ladybug Quilt & Halloween Wall Hanging
To do this week:  Eat lots of turkey! :)

Oh, and check out the other WIP at Freshly Pieced!

Poco a Poco

(Little by Little- I just think it sounds better in Spanish)

Block #5- All About the Presents

I got one Christmas block done and then everything came to a screeching halt with the trip to the ER.  It threw me off my rhythm, and I've just barely gotten back to sewing this weekend.  Happily, this table runner came together quickly for me.  I love how it turned out.  It's based on "Color Me Happy" by  Rachel that I found at Moda Bakeshop.

 I liked her idea of using modern freestyle lines for the quilting. 

It took me over 3 years to get around to finishing the first table runner, so I'm thinking 2 days is quite an improvement - pretty phenomenal.  Now I'm on to the next project. 

Happy Sunday!  Hope you have a nice, relaxing day.  I'm teaching my first ever Relief Society lesson today, so wish me luck.  Day of Rest is more of a figurative title when you have 2 little kids with you at church, but it's a nice thought. :)

Wednesdays Come So Quickly

It's already time for another WIP and I feel like I didn't get half of what I wanted to accomplished.  That's alright though, because I did have a major break through on the UFO list - I FINALLY completed my Mom's Christmas table runner! (see here)

1- Skill Builder #16: Starry Night

2- I got 2 more Christmas blocks done (see here), and I'm half way done with another one....I had some cutting issues so it didn't get done last night before I headed to Book Club.  That's on tap for today (hopefully during nap time if they actually coordinate their sleeping - fingers crossed).

3- I made 2 more drawstring bags.  These are for my 2 nieces with their Christmas gift inside.  :)

Stats for the Week:

New projects - 2
Completed projects - 3
No progress-  Ladybug Quilt & Halloween Wall Hanging

This week I have 3 more bags to make, another Christmas table runner, and A LOT more Christmas blocks......we're getting there.  Happy sewing this week, everyone!! 

Oh, and check out the other WIP at Freshly Pieced!

Lady Bug Infestation

We like ladybugs around here - Little Lady was one for Halloween.  But.....I was surprised one day to find an entire family of ladybugs hanging out in my laundry room.  I'm not sure if they're here for the Winter or what, but they haven't moved for the most part.  I've found a couple of dead ladybugs around the house though and it kind of worries me that they're all going to die in my house.  Do I just leave them there?  I'm not really sure what to do with them.  They've been there for over a week now.  Crazy stuff.

Finally!

(That was my husband's response when I told him I finished my Mom's Christmas table runner).  So maybe it was meant for 4 Christmases ago.  Better late than never, right?

I went with a simple blanket stitch to finish it off.  It feels so good to get this off my list of Un-Finished Objects (UFOs).





I've also gotten two more Christmas blocks done:

Block #8- Old Snowflake

Block #9- Christmas Romance