Stay Calm and Sew On..............

I've been a sewing nut since Christmas.  I got my first sewing machine and since then, I haven't been able to do anything but sew sew sew.  I love it.  Here are a few things I made this evening.  I love the burlap basket so much...I plan on making a few more to place around the house to put whatnots in like yarn, scarves, and the like.  The purse still needs a button for the closure.  I found a super pretty rhinestone one that I'm seriously thinking about getting for it.  So what do think?  Not bad for only having a three day sewing experience under my belt....right?

Anthropologie Shower Curtain

OMG if I had known sewing was this easy I would have started it decades ago.  Yesterday was my first day ever using a sewing machine and lookie at what I did already....

YES...I am tooting my own horn today.  This is pretty freakin amazing.  I even made the Anthropologie shower curtain I've been in love with forever but won't pay the outrageously high price for it....

So there are my first two sewing projects completed on my Christmas present.  (rubbing hands together...) huuummm, let's see, what else can I sew today...........

Gabriel Ricks Art

Gabriel Ricks is a friend of mine that just so happens to do amazing art.  I love everything he done so far.   He has recently had exhibits at the Hotel Indigo and will be presenting another one at the Flicker Bar downtown Athens next month. He recently informed me that he is going to do a piece for me. Oh you have no idea how excited I was to hear that. I did supply the canvas which really isn't a canvas at all.  It's a pallet board that I made.  I thought it would be amazing with his designs on it to put in my entryway for all to see as they enter my home.  It should be completed sometime in February.  There will definitely be a post of the finished product.  I will also get contact information for him for the public in the event any of you would like to get in touch with Gabriel to purchase your own art.

Christmas Cookies

Merry Christmas!!!!  Today I'm making Christmas cookies for the family when they arrive home today from visiting with the In-laws in south Georgia.  These ingredients make the best cookies....

I was suppose to use chocolate chips but since it's Christmas day...everything is closed except the gas stations so I improvised and used Hershey's bars.  I used two bars for each batch.  I just chopped them up into little bits and added like regular chips.  Here's the recipe....

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/flourless-chocolate-chip-cookies-50400000108779/

Happy baking.

Bathroom Sink makeover

Last post of the day folks....I promise.  My morning project for today was to give the kids bathroom vanity a face lift.  I painted the counter top and the cabinets.  Not much else to talk about except that it looks a 100 times better.  Now, if I can only get the kids to keep it clean.

Here's before and after shots.

My Handsome Son

Coty Alexander.  Born August 6, 1990; 9lbs 5oz in Walnut Creek, Cali.  What a painful day that was.  18 hours in labor, lots of screaming, lots of pain, and lots of hurt feelings because I was not in the mood for anyone telling me everything was going to be ok.  I just wanted that thing out and like super fast.  After all that drama it turned out to be a pretty good day.  I had a handsome little boy.  Typical looking Italian baby boy.  He was gorgeous.  Came pretty close to naming him Giovanni but in the end he was named Coty instead.  I just liked that name Coty for some reason.  It seemed to be everywhere at the time so I ran with it.

Coty was an energetic little boy.  Always moving and always inquisitive.  As he got older, he had to take everything apart to find out how it worked.  Never put any of it back together tho.  When he was around 5, 6, or 7ish...his favorite things were wearing a suit, a big watch, and carrying a briefcase.  He wanted to be a business man.  Can't say too much has changed.  He's still business minded.

Throughout the years, Coty has been involved in all types of sports...soccer, softball, mountain bike racing, and skateboarding.  Although is was the best at skateboarding, his most favorite thing to do in the world is learn computer software languages and all those other computer geek things that I don't understand.  He has a great future ahead of him.  He has always said for as long as I can remember that he was going to be rich when he grew up and I believe him.  He is business minded, up to date on current events, big on keeping up with politics, and has a natural talent for anything having to do with computers.  My boy has a bright future ahead of him.  One of the things that I love the most about him is that he is not obsessed with girls.  He loves girls, don't get me wrong, but his priorities are in order.  He's concentrating on college, his career, and getting himself and his goals in check before he gets involved with a girl on a regular basis.  As a matter of fact, he doesn't even date, not even as friends.  I'm very proud of him in that he has been able to get his priorities figured out at such a young age.  I'm excited to see how far ahead of his goals he actually gets in his lifetime.

Yup...that's my boy.  My beautiful baby boy....all grown up.

Here's a pic of his dad. Coty is hoping to have muscles like this when he's forty.  Hehehe.

My Beautiful Daughter

Molly LeAnn. Born September 16, 1996; 8lbs 6oz. in Athens, GA.  One of the happiest days of my life.  I had a beautiful baby girl.  As a baby and small child, Molly was nothing but sunshine.  Giggling at everything all the time. She was never seen without a smile or hint of a grin on her face.

She is 15 now and has become a young woman that I admire.  She is independent, strong, able to think for herself, smart, kind-hearted, and has goals for her future.  She is what I wish I was at her age. Molly has not had the greatest of childhoods due to her father and I being divorced only months before she was born.  She has always had to deal with the visitations, alternating holidays, and on occasion, the bickering between her dad and myself. This is not a childhood I wish for any child but I do believe it has made Molly a stronger person.  It has also opened her heart to develop empathy others and has allowed her to understand that no matter what the outward appearance is, everyone has a skeleton in the closet or some type of issue that they are dealing with in their private lives.  Molly has become the defender of the weak, always sticking up for the little guy or girl that gets picked on in school.

Even under the bad circumstances of our life when she was born, she is one of the greatest adventures to ever happen to me.

I love you Molly LeAnn.  Never stop being you....you're perfect.

However, she doesn't like her picture taken so the only way I can get a recent pic is if she takes one on the webcam that is built in to her laptop...that way she can make certain she looks right before the shot is taken, I guess.  I think it's a teenager thing now-a-days.

Country Kitchen redo

Finally got the kitchen cabinets finished.  I left a few of the doors off and painted the inside because I love the look of white dishes arranged in the cabinets.  I may go back and put in some type of design on the back panel of the cabinet but for now we're leaving them as is to be certain we really want a design on the inside or not. Please excuse the "Pork Ass" written on the menu board.  Steve slow cooked a rump roast yesterday so we were trying to be funny.

I also made a small ladder to lean against the wall to hang all of the clean dish towels.  I just love the look of it.  It also holds the aprons and the bucket holds the chalk and eraser for the shopping list board.

I moved the grommet top burlap curtains I made a while ago from the living room into the kitchen.  I thought the burlap was more of a kitcheny fabric.  I also want to do the drop cloth curtains in the living because I'm totally in love with the way the bedroom ones turned out.

I also have to show off my flowers.  I love love love bulb flowers. The Christmas Catus' came from clippings my mother-in-law gave me.

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy the time you have with your loved ones and stay safe in your travels.

:-)
Here's a before shot of the kitchen before we started renovations and moved in....

2nd Wedding Anniversary

We're coming up on our two year wedding anniversary in three weeks.  Totally looking forward to it.  We haven't made any plans yet but if I have it my way, we're doing something spectacular.  What am I talking about,..just going out to dinner is a big deal to me these days.  Hehehe.  It's been a fantastic past two years. My husband and his family have taken me and my kids in and made us feel loved and a part of something that is out-of-this-world.  I'm excited about experiencing the next thirty or forty years with Steve.  He just keeps getting better and better with every passing year as it is.  LOVE LOVE LOVE him.

Smoochies to you Steve Arnold.

Here are a few pics of our wedding day.  Actually we have two wedding anniversaries.  We went to the courthouse in January and had a small unannounced ceremony and then the following April we had a "wedding" in Las Vegas for the family to attend.  Here are the pics of the Vegas wedding. There's one pic in here that is of me and my sister hugging.  This is the first time we had seen each other in 18 years.