December 1, 2009

Sometimes Simple is Best

This house DESPERATELY (and I emphasize desperately because it's so true) needs food. Can you believe we only got one plate of Thanksgiving leftovers?! I contemplated on what I could make for lunch today and realized there's nothing here. Oi! So on a whim, I put together some chicken broth (with salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, and thyme) with some egg noodles, frozen corn, and peas..hoping for the best. All I've got to say is.....WOW! So simple but, I gotta say, it was delicious. So good that I didn't even get to take a picture of it.  :)

Wanna X-ray my belly?

November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

The past week has been a whirlwind. Work has been picking up and the Christmas season is rapidly upon us. As I end my evening with thoughts of Thanksgiving, just hours away, I think of how thankful I am for the friends and family I have in my life and the MANY blessings that I have (no matter how much I complain).  ;)

Enjoy your Thanksgiving tomorrow. Don't feel bad if you overeat a little (or a lot). Treasure the time you have with your families and be sure to create some new memories!

November 20, 2009

Sluggard

It's amazing how quickly time flies! I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted (I really was trying to be better about it-- optimistically once a day and, what I thought would be more feasible, at least once every other day). It's proof that the season is upon us! And maybe I shouldn't beat myself up if I can't keep up. It is the first time I've truly made an effort to post more.

Stephen showed me this website he found tonight. If you need a good laugh, check it out! I was crying. With laughter.

November 13, 2009

Being Productive

Tuesday I was unproductive and Wednesday I was, as well. I had just about enough energy to lie on the couch and get myself glasses of orange juice. I tend to let colds run their course; I don't really like to take medications. However, yesterday I did actually take some DayQuil. Thank you, DayQuil! I was so productive yesterday! I made homemade chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker and cut fabric for some Christmas gifties for...listen to this....9 hours! I've been meaning to get started on these for about a week now and something always seems to get in the way. But since I had a day off from work, I really had to take advantage of that time. Enter DayQuil.

That's not to say I'm not still sick. I actually sort of enjoy those few days of sick you get when it's close to wintertime and Christmas. I don't know why, really. And I guess it's sort of strange. It just seems like it's something that tends to go hand-in-hand with the whole season. You get to bundle up, wear thick, warm Christmas socks, drink hot tea, and eat chicken noodle soup (homemade if it's available). I don't know, I kinda like it.

Speaking of bundling up, here's what I found snuggled up in my fabric yesterday when I was getting ready to iron....



Cats! They always have to be on whatever you're working with. Isn't that the truth?

I was kind of hesitant to post pictures of my cut fabric. I'm not exactly sure who's reading my blog and I don't want to spoil any surprises, but I think the picture I have will be OK. Even if the people these are for are reading my blog, I don't think they'll be able to figure out what the end product is. So, please enjoy my lovely holiday prints!



There are actually two more prints but I've been having an awful time try to block them out...the fibers must have really gotten warped at some point between being shipped and me washing them. So I haven't had a chance to cut into them yet. Soon though!

November 10, 2009

Incoherent Drivel

I love this time of year-- the chill in the air (although it's been a bit warm the last two days), the remaining leaves hanging from the boughs of branches, and the dry, crackly leaf piles up and down the neighborhood streets. However, what I don't like is that it's almost pitch black by five o'clock. I really wanted to take photos of the new fabrics I got on Monday so they could be viewed in the flesh. Unfortunately, work has kept me from doing so. Drats! Well, I guess I have to make a living somehow, right?

Speaking of which, have you ever worked in the sale section of a clothing store? How about the sale section in an Anthropologie store? Yowza! As the Sale Specialist at the Anthropologie I work at, I'm in charge of marking down apparel and home items and merchandising it into our itty, bitty sale room. In an effort to improve our sales and move items out, I spent 8 hours straight today marking items down and moving them around to better merchandise them. And right when the second half of my day started up, so did a wicked sore throat. By five o'clock, my nose was running uncontrollably while I was...guess what? Driving to the grocery store! Ugh...all I wanted to do was go home, change into pajamas, and snuggle up in bed. Especially since I was working off of 4 hours of sleep today. Needless to say, that's probably why you're thinking in your head, "This post isn't very coherent or cohesive." Or maybe you're not thinking that. Maybe you're thinking, "This poor gal really just needs to put on some thick, warm socks and get a good night's rest." I do look a sorry mess right now. So maybe I'll take your advice and mosey off to bed. If Stephen asks where I've gone off to, you can tell him you thought I should go to bed. G'night everyone and sleep tight!

November 8, 2009

Weekend Boxwood

For Stephen's birthday (in late October), I bought him two Boxwood plants. I know it's not a conventional birthday gift but Stephen and I aren't your conventional couple. He loves Boxwood. Really loves it. It reminds him of when his family would go on vacation to Colonial Williamsburg when he was younger. He says the smell is "so classy."

Our front garden area, on the left side of our house, was so incredibly bare. When we first moved in, we didn't like the plants the previous owner chose and, thinking we were going to be really proactive with fixing things up in the beginning, we tore everything out (I'll post a "before" picture once I've had a chance to locate it-- it's on our old desktop). Needless to say, this is our first house so we weren't really prepared with the costs that go into fixing things up. So, for 3 or 4 years it remained this hideous area that was completely empty in the center-- save for a few hostas that would come up in the Spring and Summer and some random plant smack dab in the center, all by its lonesome. Our quandry was that in the Fall and Winter, when the hostas would die out, there was nothing there. So. Ugly. I wasn't gung-ho about getting the Boxwood at first (they sort of smelled like cat pee, contained in my car, as I drove them home), but outside where there's TONS of airflow they actually do smell good. Very earthy. And they look pretty dang good, too!




We loved the idea of finally having some evergreens to fill up the space so we went out and got three more. Now we have a total of five out front. Unfortunately, they're already dormant so they won't fill out the space until next Spring. But at least the twenty feet of empty space are finally filled with something. And now I have new motivation to plant some flowers in the Spring since they'll have quite a handsome backdrop.

This little guy is my favorite....



Isn't he handsome surrounded by fresh mulch?

November 6, 2009

Gift Making in the Works!

Guess what's coming in the mail today?




 


I love Fabric.com! What do you think I'm making with them? Well, "gifts" is obvious...but what kind of gifts?

November 5, 2009

Pumpkin Pie Payback

I signed on to my blog with intentions of posting today and thought, "Hey! I wonder who else has posted today." I saw about 6 or 7 posts from some blogs that I frequent regularly and almost started catching up. But there will be NO DISTRACTIONS! ...At least until I'm done my post.

I made pumpkin pie yesterday. Well, TWO pumpkin pies, actually. I wanted to make one for our neighbors across the street because, bless their hearts, the husband always mows our front lawn for us. And here's the thing...we really want to take care of our property-- we want it to look nice. I swear! However, my husband won't let me use our lawn mower (he says it's his job as the husband and he's also afraid I might chop my hands off...yeah right!) so I can't do it during the days I'm working later because I want to be obedient to my promise that I won't use it. And when he has time to do it on the weekends, it's usually raining. So, our neighbor has taken it upon his generous self to do it, seriously, like 4 times in the past 2 or 3 months. And even though a homemade pumpkin pie isn't enough in terms of "payback," I figured it was pretty good since pumpkin pie is the best. So, while I was making theirs, I made one for Stephen and I. How could I not?



Don't you just love the texture of sugar? So sweet and tiny and grainy. (And please excuse the horrendous photos...I have THE. WORST. lighting in my kitchen. No daylight reaches this place...which is actually very sad to me because the kitchen is always where I want the most natural light in the house. But that's for another post.)

 

I love, love, love that burnt orange shade the pumpkin mixture gets when the spices and pumpkin are combined.

 

However, I also love that creamy shade the mixture gets when you add the evaporated milk.





And as you can see, I couldn't even wait long enough to take a picture of that pie in its perfect state. I just HAD to cut into that bad boy. And immediately following this picture, I cut another slice.

What are you baking these days?  :)

November 4, 2009

Sleigh Bells Ring

I hopped on over to Alicia Paulson's blog this morning (my most favorite blog) to see what was going on in the life of Posy Gets Cozy.  She had a link to Polyvore, if you've ever been there. I completely forgot about this little gem of a place! So inspired was I by Alicia's fashion layout, I decided to do one of my own. Naturally, I created looks for a holiday get together since I've had Christmas on the brain since, like, August. HA! Meanwhile, I did so while listening to the Classical Christmas station on Pandora. It was playing the warm kind of classical Christmas music that reminds you of old, family, Christmas traditions in Norway or Wales or Ireland where family members are gathered around the fire eating plum pudding and toasting each other and their blessings with a glass of Port. Of course...my "looks" don't resemble any of that feeling. But hey! What can I say. I was working with more modern trends.

What I really should have been doing was a multitude of other things...showering, mulching the front garden, raking leaves, washing dishes, folding laundry, sewing-- you get it. My coffee had long gone cold but I was still finding myself sipping from it. I kept telling myself, "I'm only going to look at one more page" but once I got to the FIFTIETH page of dresses (and I was only on my first item), I realized I had to set some boundaries as to how long I spend picking out each item. Therefore, I limited myself to going through 15 pages of each item. Two and half hours later (EEK!), this is what I came up with.....


.....


....


...


..





I couldn't decide on just one of each thing so I went with three different holiday looks. Who's volunteering to buy me those Alexander McQueen Swarovski Crystal heels?

Anyway, I guess I ought to get back to real life. And (ahem) shower.

October 31, 2009

Fall Harvest-y Goodness

So, Stephen and I planted his birthday boxwoods (or should it be boxwood?) today. (Our memory card was full at the time and we had a rather rainy day, so pictures to come tomorrow.) Afterwards, we headed off to pick up some pumpkins for the front steps and fresh apple cider donuts. Yum!










Look at that hottie! Wow, I really got lucky, didn't I?

July 10, 2009

Etsy Showcase

In case you haven't been in the Bags & Purses Showcase on Etsy today, go check it out! My bags are being featured. :)

June 27, 2009

I've been sewing a bunch of satin, pink rosebuds. What should I use
them for?

June 24, 2009

So, hubby and I were somehow functioning with one car since September
and, honestly, I'm not sure how we ever made it. Now that I'm working
again, it was necessary to get another vehicle. Especially because of
my ever-changing shift schedules. And I have to say, I'm ecstatic with
our choice! Check out that shade of blue (and don't mind the excessive
weeds in my driveway). ;)

May 31, 2009


First shore trip of the summer season! Aaaah! The clean, salty air. The soft, grainy sand on my toes. Not to mention the first gelato of the season at Shriver's (I was too excited to take a photo beforehand but trust me...it looked DEE-LISH-IOUS!).

I'm so excited for the summer. And although I don't have as much freedom to go down on the weekends like I used to, it makes those moments that I can visit that much more special and enjoyable. Packing up the car late this afternoon brought a little sadness to the day. It couldn't have been better though! Arriving yesterday in the afternoon to a bright, blue sky filled with fluffy clouds, feeling the cool ocean breeze blow through my hair, walking the boardwalk and eating Mack and Manco's pizza, and ending the evening with a leisurely game of hearts with family was great. And to start the day with coffee and breakfast at Ready's Coffee Shop was bliss! Another walk on the boardwalk and a taste of South Jersey's best gelato was as relaxing a day as I could have wished for. Shore...I'm sad to see you go. At least for this weekend. I'm sure we will meet again.

On a side note (and completely unrelated but you know I gotta plug it!), check out two new totes in my Etsy shop-- the Yellow Mod Dot Day Tote and the Raspberry Mustard Floral Day Tote. Enjoy the remainder of the night, all!

May 27, 2009

I feel I need to point out that Paramore us growing on me. I just
heard one of their songs on the radio on my way to work and I've gotta
say...I do like it.

Guilty pleasure announced.

May 15, 2009

I feel like I've mentioned this plenty of times before but I've been stuck in such a rut lately. It's the feeling of helplessness I've had in regards to my job/school situation. School has not worked out. It was supposed to but, no surprise here, the state has made it so I can't attend. I was pretty mad about it at first since I have spent 7 months trying to get this situated (and everything was set and ready to go) but, in the end, I'm sure I'll get the training I'm looking for at some point. I was offered a retail position at Anthropologie (my love!), which is fabulous as I'm obsessed and probably their biggest fan...but it's only part-time work. The stress of wondering if I'll find something else to bring in supplemental income rears its ugly head every now and then. And, in particular, two days ago. The whole situation is just so nerve-wracking. I often don't feel like I'm stressed but, looking back, I can see that I am because it seems to affect every other area of my life. Creatively, I've been struggling because my focus is always on what's going to happen next-- will my hubby and I be in financial distress or will something great come through last minute? And all of this is to announce that my creative fire has FINALLY been fueled the past few days! Hallelujah!

I've got cute new homewares in my Etsy shop! Check them out!

May 10, 2009

NYC

> My New York trip was fabulous! I can't believe it's been about 5
> years since I was there last. I decided today that visiting needs to
> be something I do more often. I just loved taking in all the sights
> and sounds and just walking around. However, I am glad to be home in
> my comfy bed. My aching feet need a rest...I walked at least 15
> miles today!

May 8, 2009

Portland, Oregon

I feel like so much creativity is pouring out of Portland, Oregon. Like, literally busting out! Every time I look through crafts, art pieces, whatever, I find out where the artist is located and it's a loud and resounding Portland. What is in the water there? Talent juice?! Hook me up with some. So now I really want to go visit and experience all that Portland has to offer. First I need to secure a job and an income. ;)

I'm taking a day trip to NYC tomorrow with some girly friends. I haven't been there in YEARS! I'm super excited to go despite there may be rain and scattered thunderstorms. But seriously, I'm not letting the rain bring me down. New York, New York!!!!!!!! *sung in that of a Bette Midler Broadway voice*


March 1, 2009


It's a little blurry and very grainy but taking photos with a flash while it's snowing wasn't faring too well. We've had one really good snow this winter (for New Jersey standards) and it looks like tonight will provide another before the Spring. Six to ten inches, they say! I love sitting in the house, watching the snow accumulate out the window, wondering if the morning will bring call outs from work and snowed in fun. I'm hoping! (Despite the fact that I'm out of work at the moment but I would love to have my hubby home for the day to relax, drink some hot chocolate, and play games.) I made a trip to the local grocery store to stock up on snowed in snacks and beverages and the family that lives on the corner of our street has already started on their snowman. So cute!

I love the quietness of snow. It's almost as if all sound gets absorbed into the tiny flakes and the only thing you can hear is the soft, bell-like tinkling of the snow as it floats to the ground. It's so calming.

January 31, 2009

I set up a new Etsy shop to be more in line with my "business" name and blog name. My other shop was originally created to purchase items and supplies and I didn't think too much ahead. I should have assumed that I would eventually start selling items, as well. The new shop is www.itsahootjs.etsy.com (you can also get to it by clicking on the Etsy button on the right side of my blog. For now, there are just some felt rosette hair clips up but I'm planning on working on some tote bags this week to list. So, if you look at it...check back next week! (Take a peek at the hair clips below.)


January 26, 2009

My posting has been getting more and more sparse it feels like. I'm having difficulty working with all the ideas in my head and then actually getting to work on them. I need to kick my butt into high gear!

I think today I'm going to work on making some floral hair clips. Just as soon as I tear myself away from the computer. :) It's so easy to lose track of time and get lost in reading others' blogs or look on the interwebs for inspiration. By the time I'm revved up to start getting to work, the day is already gone! Oh Father Time, can you spare a few more hours?!

But before I venture off into the world of felt and hot glue....maybe just a little update about my job/education situation and perhaps some picture sharing!

So, rather quickly...I'm still waiting to find out if I'm eligible for tuition reimbursement. I have to meet with a counselor to discuss if my job skills are in demand. If they're in demand, they'll help me with finding another job but if they're not then that's one of the major factors that will determine whether or not I'm eligible. February 3rd is the day! It'll be nice to know after almost 4 months of unemployment what the next step is. I'm eager to be doing something.

Now, for picture sharing! I'm an avid watcher of "What Not to Wear" on the TLC channel. It's my girly guilty pleasure. I realize, at almost 27, I've been dressing myself, for the most part, much the same way I did in high school. Jeans, t-shirts, and hoodies. I feel like I've gotten to the point where I need to start dressing my age. Overall, I just feel the desire to look more put together. That will require a lengthy overhaul of my wardrobe that, no doubt, will take a good bit of time considering I don't have $5000 to spend on a new wardrobe. Bits and pieces, bits and pieces. For a long time, I was wearing these very unattractive sneakers with everything. Even when I would wear dressier black pants with a nice top, those would be my shoes of choice. I just didn't have a selection of cute shoes to choose from. Thanks to a very wonderful and generous family, I received a good number of gift cards for Christmas. So, I decided to update my shoe wardrobe first!



Above are two cute, comfortable pairs of flats that can be worn with jeans, dress pants, and skirts alike! Very versatile and I love the little embellishments and pops of color. Simple enough to work with multiple outfits but unique enough for my taste! (Our skinny cat, Cinnamon-- who's actually fat-- became very loving when I sat on the floor to take the pictures. She kept purring and rolling around on the floor. I guess she thought I was getting ready to pet her. Poor thing...I'll give her some love and pets today!)



I needed to have a couple of choices for heels, as well. I don't have much to say about these as I feel they speak for themselves. So cute! And you wouldn't think it but they're comfortable, too! I'm definitely largely influenced by comfort.

So, I feel my shoe wardrobe has been properly made over and will last me for quite some time! Now the clothing is next. Bits and pieces, my friends! Bits and pieces.

January 15, 2009

Oh Me, Oh My!

The holidays have certainly screwed up the frequency of my posts. I don't know what's wrong with me but I've been having such a hard time getting back into the swing of things. It's already halfway through January! How did this happen?

I haven't posted too much about my current situation...at least I don't recall. I'm currently out of work. I was let go, along with the entire creative department and most of the editorial department, from the local magazine I worked for back in October. It seems as though most of those who were let go have found jobs except for me. At times, I find this a little disconcerting but then I remember that I've taken a detour and am pursuing another path at the moment. At least until tomorrow. Tomorrow is when I find out, once and for all (after waiting for over a month), whether or not the state of New Jersey will approve me for tuition reimbursement. I'm looking into getting certification for fashion design and technology. So, fingers crossed and God willing, they'll say yes. By 3pm tomorrow afternoon, I'll know whether or not it's time to look for a job full force. I've spent a good part of the last 3 months just going with the flow. Although schooling is really what I want for myself, I don't want to set myself up for a letdown. I'm trying to be positive but not too positive. Just in case. It's only hours away anyway....will keep you all posted!