Simmer Pot Jars

Merry Christmas Eve!  

I come to you with a last minute gift idea.  Not an original one at all, but one that I'd never thought of until I saw it gifted to a friend!  

Simmer pot ingredients!!!!  The perfect neighbor or hostess gift!!!  

These can be put together quickly and are relatively inexpensive.  And I can't believe I'd never thought of making these before now!

SIMMER POT JARS

Ingredients:  bag of oranges, cinnamon sticks, fresh rosemary, whole cloves, cranberries             

Other:  ribbon, jar (mine are from Dollar Tree), instruction tag (I used this one.)

Directions:  Fill bottom of jar with cranberries.  Take one orange and push cloves into it forming rings around the orange.  Place orange in the jar.  Add rosemary sprigs and cinnamon sticks on the side.  Sprinkle a few more whole cloves in, along with a few more cranberries.  Put the lid on and tie a ribbon around the edge.  Add the instruction tag on top. 

 

 

Then sneak over to your neighbor's porch and drop one off!  They'll have it for Christmas Day simmering!  Quick, simple, and cute!  Also, fun to put together!  

And hopefully you'll have leftover ingredients to simmer yourself!

What I Wore (Halloween Edition)

Two years of costumes.

One I broke the bank on.  And one that cost maybe $10.

Costume number one:  Mary Katherine Gallagher.

Cheap costume.  All thrifted (for about $10) or from my closet.... 

Never mind the clown or Brawny Paper Towel guy.

*   *   *   *   *

Costume number two.  Expensive.  Well over $100 spent.

I wanted to be decked in 80's finery head to toe.  From jelly bracelets to fingerless lace gloves.  An attempt to channel Madonna.....

Luckily, that costume has gotten a lot of mileage.  80's day at school.  Other Halloween parties.

The boots were a little dangerous, but no regrets spending the cash on this costume.  I loved it. 

I was, after all, a child of the 80's.

Basically, like, the best decade ever.

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy, Transatlantic Blonde, and Rolled up Pretty!!!

Looking Back....and Forward

I love the yearly tradition of ringing in the new year with BFF's, goooood food inspired by Pinterest, and fun games at Whit's house.  I got to end and begin a year with some of my favorite people.

And I learned that I am terrible at Dance Central.

But enough about that.  Let's look back at 2011, and see what I have planned for 2012.....

2011 Highlights.........

• Finishing the front living room
• Adding open shelving above the dishwasher
• Deciding on a decor direction for the special room
• Getting new bedroom lights
• Starting a booth at Relics

2012 To Do List.........

• Use all of the Ice Storm of '07 firewood (which is rotting in my backyard)
• Drink more water (but not at the expense of Starbucks)
• Finish the special room.  I mean seriously.
• Take a vacation.  New York City maybe?  Or do we go tropical?
• Start redoing the laundry room.  I will have beadboard and hexagonal tiles.

Happy New Year!

Let there be light!

In the middle of setting off fireworks, Bob surprised us with a phone call last night.  He was ready to come for his next project.

TODAY!

So I'm anxiously awaiting Bob's arrival this morning, not to mention the completion of his project.  I threw out a hint about this very small overhaul about a month ago.  Finishing this little project will allow us to finally paint and finish the bedrooms.  I'm hoping Bob's upgrade only takes a day, maybe two.

This project probably won't be too exciting for all of you.  But after living with fluorescent bulbs in wooden boxes above every bedroom window for five years, I am flipping out.  First of all, the wooden light boxes are not esthetically pleasing.........

Second of all, the light they produce is minimal.  We practically need flashlights to see in each of the bedrooms.

Third of all, they often flicker.  Like in a scary movie when someone is about to get the ax.  Then they might stay on, but more often they flicker until they go out completely.

Why, oh why would someone choose to light a house this way?

Dear Builder of my house,

What the heck where you thinking?

I realize it was 1967 when you made this 

choice, but really?  Even a caned blade

ceiling fan would have been better than this.

Love,  Dana-v

*   *   *   *

Speaking of light, the 4th of July was excellent.  It's not a true 4th unless you light up the sky.......

Or blow up a mailbox......

The mister and I had nothing to do with this.  Innocent bystanders.  I swear.

Hope your 4th was explosive too!

Happy Easter!

A rainy Easter called for moving the festivities to the living room.

Hiding eggs.......

Hunting eggs.....

Mom made a mean lemon chiffon cake....

And you all know how I feel about cake.

Good-bye, Hello

2010 was good.

We got a dog....

It was love at first sight. He really is a perfect fit.

Major progress was made on the home improvement front......

From this:


TO THIS:


And then from this:



TO THIS:


And finally, from this:


TO THIS:


Went through a major reconfiguration at work, which was happy and sad......


And I read all the Twilight books, against my will.

I ended up liking them. But I don't own any Team Jacob t-shirts or anything like that.

2011 had better measure up!

I already have a wedding to look forward to. And a monumental, Beatles-esque concert to attend. I get a student teacher at school, which is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I'm determined to take a great vacation. And of course, the house will undergo more earth-shattering transformations.

I think I should also drink more water.

And really try to keep my car from looking like I live in it.

Happy New Year!!!

Ask...

...and ye shall receive.

It was the Year of the Snuggie.

I might have mentioned that having one would be funny.

It is also possible that the word "leopard" somehow made its way into that conversation.

And maybe it was mentioned to more than one person.

Because we ended up with three of them....


Two for me. And one for the mister.

He wasn't overcome with joy. Especially since his said "Property of Snuggie" right on the front. I told him we could trade, but the monkey print didn't impress him either.....



Sir Chester got an outfit of his own too.....


And if you thought it couldn't get better than Snuggies and dog hoodies, well, it did.

How bout an iPod Touch.......


Or an original window from my great grandparents' home that they built way back when......


And all the time spent with family..........


Couldn't have asked for more!

I'm Thankful....

For my mom's amazing cooking skills......

(I really like pepper.)

For some winter weather on Thanksgiving......

(Those are my mom and dad's
leaves. I raked. Remember?)

For the cutest niece and nephew on the planet......


For great family gatherings...........

(Happy Birthday Mom......who
was born ON Thanksgiving!)

For a patient mister who will pose for tons of photos. Against his will..........


For Pizza Hut, who delivers on Thanksgiving evening, long after the feast is over and you are turkeyed out.........


And for pumpkin pie for breakfast on Black Friday.......

(While I'm shopping from the
comfort of my own home.)

Four Things

Thing #1: On the way home after an errand tonight, I was thrilled to spot Taco Wagon II and immediately wanted some of their tasty vittles for dindin.

So I batted my eyelashes at the mister and asked if we could eat there, pretty please.

Then he sort of confessed to sneaking it behind my back for lunch today.

Really?

I could barely drag him there the first time. He was very much against the Taco Wagon.

And now he's sneaking it for lunch?

And this isn't the first time, he claims.

I see how it is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thing #2: This is quite possibly the best pencil sharpener I've ever seen.......


The pencil goes in the nostril.

I wish I'd thought of that.

Thank goodness for school book fairs that sell trinkets. Unfortunately, there was only one for sale (by accident) and one of my students snapped it up before I could.

I wish I'd been able to purchase a few. Or five.

Who wouldn't want to find one in their stocking on Christmas morn?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thing #3: On a recent antiquing jaunt, I found this........

I found it at a new shop in town. I fell in love with the place.......Relics.

I loved my purchase. The mister wasn't as excited. It was made clear, that in no uncertain terms, the mister would not be using it for anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thing #4: I was on a mission after school today.

To find part of my Halloween costume.

At a thrift store.

I had a feeling that I'd find just what I needed there. And I was right.........


The Red Rack had a plethora of circa 1990's era pleated, plaid skirts. That little number was only $1.44.

Now who does this force you to conjure up in your mind?

Think SNL.

Guess who?????

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Every year around the 4th of July, a realtor who lives in the neighborhood decorates our street with little flags. The entire street is lined with them.......each house has one by the driveway. It's such a simple thing, but it makes me smile, and I look forward to it every year!


Red velvet cookies with patriotic colored sprinkles also make me smile! I usually make these around Christmas, but when I saw red, white, and blue sprinkles, I figured a summer batch was in order.


And lastly, a few weeks ago at a yard sale, I spotted this baby. I just had to have it.

Happy Fourth of July!