It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

As previously stated: I love Christmas.

My cards are done (just need to mail them...), and now that it's after Thanksgiving and socially acceptable to have public displays of Christmas-ness, it's time to decorate!

Last year I made a....flock?...of snowmen.  What is the appropriate term for a large number of snowmen, anyway?  In any case, here they are in all their glory:

Snowman attack!  They're about 2" tall, I'd guess.

Close-up of a few.  Some have presents, scarves, hats, signs, etc...

A few new additions this year include some greenery.  I bought each individual piece separate, and pieced them together to make a few small arrangements:

There's a couple small, silver presents and a toy drum in the center.  This is now under the TV.

Xyla posing with a bunch of pine cones, berries and branches.

I have about a million other decorations (mostly penguins...) and wall-hangings, so it's nice to see Christmas finally starting to come together!  Tree will come next weekend, likely.

As a side note, who knew that Christmas lights contain lead?  On the wires?  Apparently they do, and at pretty high levels.  Needless to say, I'm terrified of about half of my decorations (things that touch the lights, the lights themselves, etc).  Thank goodness for a wonderful husband that tries to reason with me and assure me that it'll all be ok.  I'm still kinda freaked out and can't deal with that yet, but we'll see.

Christmas Cards

I finally broke free of my sewing-related projects (sewing-related meaning: cross-stitch, felt and regular hand-sewing) and started some serious work on our Christmas cards!

(First off: in case it hasn't been made painfully clear already, I love Christmas.  Best time of the year!  Maybe I'll have to write about it sometime-- but I love everything about it.  I mean, it's a holiday where people are happy.  What's not to love?!)

Now, I've actually been working on ideas for a design since, oh, June or July probably.  And I finalized the general design around August.  But, now I finally got to the real nitty gritty and started really getting into "production" mode.  Bought supplies, colored it in and worked out all the scanning and printing settings I need.  All-in-all, a very "paper" project.  It's nice to be using a different medium!  Can't wait to fully assemble them.

Here's a preview!

I'm back!

Well, gee!  I've certainly been MIA for a while.  But, I've still been trying to broaden my horizons!

I've taken up, well, weight-lifting.  Allen may scoff at my workouts (he doesn't really, but I feel pretty inadequate, compared to his P90X and big muscles!), but I've been following The New Rules of Lifting for Women.  I've been an avid cardio freak for the past 7+ years, and it's taken over a year to convince myself to do weights + minimal cardio on weights days (although I still have one full cardio day a week full of the stairmaster, elliptical AND stationary bike-- and love every sweaty, miserable second on it).  On the other hand, my extremely flabby arms have, gasp, muscles!  They're just starting to show, but they're really there!  As someone who went from overweight to underweight, and now in the middle of the "healthy" range, my poor arms are a extra flabby-on-flabby.  So, this is exciting!  On the other hand, I've also gained a few pounds (and my pants are noticeably tighter, so don't go starting that "you're gaining muscle!" business), but I'm pushing through.  New experiences!  Branching out!  Time to re-shape my workout and my body!

Allen and I have both been playing around with our new DSLR camera.  Xyla has been our main focus for experimenting, but the view from our apartment also makes for some fantastic photos!  Here's a couple:

Happy Halloween!

Love her face!

DOUBLE RAINBOW!  It actually was the entire arch, too.  Beautiful!

Love the contrasting colors.  On a side note, that kid that went missing from the car in Bellevue?  That apartment is where the mom lives.  It's just down the street from us!

Taking a walk on the trail

Ohhhh, I miss riding my bike!  (The trail is on the right)  Way too cold, though.  I'm not that hardcore.

I also had a Halloween party with entirely too much food!  Which is always a good thing.  Also, awesome costumes by all!  The menu included (all homemade, I might add!):

• Mini pumpkin pies (made in little 1" tart molds)
• Chex mix (featuring as much orange as possible-- cheez its, cheetos, doritos...etc)
• Baby mummies (ie: 'lil smokies, wrappen in pillsbury dough, with a slit cut in it to show two little mustard eyes peeking out!)
• Chocolate cupcakes (mini and regular-sized) with orange buttercream frosting
• Pretzels (lessons learned: read through the recipe thoroughly, and multiple times, so that you aren't surprised when you realize you do not, in fact, own a dutch oven.  Still turned out wonderfully, though!)
• Pumpkin chocolate bars
• Rosemary flatbread and spinach artichoke dip

Whew!  Needless to say, my kitchen was a MESS!  But, well worth it.  Also, one more concoction:

Let it be known that jello added to any fizzy drink is pretty awesome.  Not only does it look cool, but it makes your drink kind of...squishy!  Just a fun way to change things up.

Let's see, what else?  Saving up and planning to (FINGERS CROSSED!) buy a house sometime next summer/fall.  So, we've been researching.

I have my Christmas cards all planned out.  I just need to make the final cards!  That's my goal this weekend-- have them done (or at least have all the supplies together and set up so I can start, and finish during the week next week)!  Then I can focus on everything else I want to do.

Sorry guys, but that's one thing I won't be branching away from.  I love, love, love Christmas!  And that's not going to change.  Sadly, there's only so much our small apartment can handle, so I'll have to pick and choose when it comes to Christmas crafts-- but now is the time to get them all started!  I'm so excited to have my own place for the whole season.  I moved into the apartment last December, so I was jointly unpacking and decorating for Christmas!  This year, the focus is 100% Christmas.  WOOHOO!  It's not called "the most wonderful time of the year" for no reason!

Anyway, there's that update.  I'll be better in the future, I promise!

Felt

Well, I haven't posted in a while.  Why not?  Mostly because I have too many projects and frankly, I'd rather be working on them them writing about their non-completion.  But, I now have two things off my list.. and I realized very important:  I love felt.

I've always loved sewing-- or at least, the idea of it.  I'm decent enough with a pattern, if I have proper help and instruction from my mom; and I've always been able to make up my own "patterns" to make whatever I wanted (in fact, I'd rather just wing it and make it up myself, rather than confuse myself with others' patterns).  Since moving away from home, however, I lack something very important: a sewing machine.  Our one-bedroom apartment, as spacious as it is, doesn't have much actual storage space, so until I can figure out somewhere to store one (or until we buy a house and have more space!..including my own craft room, hint hint..), I'm sewing machine-less.

Which means everything I sew these days is done by hand.  I've been working on cross-stitch, but that doesn't really count.  Instead, I have been relying on felt!  The fact that edges don't all have to be hemmed, and it's easy to cut and work with, is ideal.  The fact that it's dirt cheap is even better!  Sure, there are no prints (only solid colors), usually only comes in small squares, and you can't do anything too complex, but it's nice enough to work with.

Since it's October, the first order of business was, of course, to make my cat a Halloween costume!  Seeing as it is Xyla's first Halloween (with us; she was busy being abandoned and send to a shelter for her very first Halloween), Allen suggested she be a pumpkin.  A Jack-o-Lantern, to be exact.  Perfect!

First, I assembled her body piece.  Basically, a pumpkin-shaped cape with a tummy strap to keep it in place:

Xyla the Jack-o-Lantern!

Yikes, why can't I get it to rotate?  Anyway, she doesn't mind this part too much.  Stays in place relatively well, and she tolerates it just fine.

Next came the cap.  I figured she needed some sort of a hat with a stem, to really get the "pumpkin" part to come across.  It took some adjusting, and lots of checking it with her head (which she did not appreciate), but finally, I got a good design:

Xyla in her full costume!

Unfortunately I didn't have any orange ribbon handy, and I was too impatient to wait until I could buy some.  Oh well-- it matches her fur..?  Anyway, here she is in her full glory!  I was laughing so hard, I only got one good picture with my phone.  I'll get the nice camera and give her a proper photo-shoot later!  The point is-- felt!  Amazing!

Next up, some fall decorations.  I had this idea in my head and modified and changed it as I went on.  Mostly, I wanted to show the stitching on the felt (rather than try to hide the thread, as I did on Xyla's costume):

Fall leaves, above the washer and dryer closet

Printed off some outlines of leaves, did a blanket stitch around the edges and some big stitches in the middle.  Here's a sort-of close up of a couple:

At first I was unhappy with how the stitching kind of crinkled up the felt, but it actually makes them more leaf-like, and adds some dimensionality.

Both of these projects were fun, relatively quick (I have a short attention span..), completed in many short sessions, and best of all--easy to stuff back into my shoebox of Current Project Supplies which is the only way I can keep the desk/table/coffee table/floor clean and clear of all my stuff!

I have a few more fall things I want to do soon, but I also need to finalize our Christmas cards!  I keep putting it off.  The sketches are all done and I know basically how I'll do them, but I need to put in a little more work to finalize things before I get too busy with other Christmas-y things!

MIA?

Yikes; I've been terrible at updating.

The most recent event has been receiving our apartment re-lease information.  Rent has gone up a huge amount, and while we could pay it, Allen and I really don't believe we get enough to pay that much (we have a one bedroom apartment.  There's only so much you want to pay for ONE ROOM, no matter how nice it is).  In any case, the last few days/week have been spent searching for and researching alternate housing online, and starting visits.

Still holding out hope they'll lower the re-lease amount, to something we'd be happy with... but I'm not sure.  In any case, that's been mildly annoying (to put it lightly).

I often think of things I want to post about, but never do it.  So, here's a list.  Feel free to imagine what wonderfully inventive and enlightening posts they may be:

• The trail we go biking on.  I've seen the strangest things-- from a bird in a cage strapped to a cyclists back, to a guy with no legs, zipping along on a little 4-wheeled contraption, powered by his arms.  It's amazing to see quick snapshots of other peoples' lives as you pass by each other.

• On a similar note, there's a certain stretch of the trail that, if you're on it at the right time of day, is positioned perfectly east-to-west, meaning you can see a perfect shadow of yourself in front of you.  I love this.  In that silhouette, I can see my crazy calves and powerful thighs, and it makes me feel so strong and alive!  Which alwasy makes me think-- why do we strive for an unattainable, perfect "hollywood" body?  The body is an amazing thing; why not celebrate all that it can do?  For the record, I usually hate my body, but in those few moments when I see that shadow, I feel proud.

• And leading off of that, I realized I have begun to assume that people know things about me.  For instance, I assume it's public knowledge that I used to have an eating disorder.  To me, it is an integral part of my being.  So when I meet someone new, and say, "Hi, I'm Rosanne," I assume that what I'm really telling the person is, "I'm Rosanne, I had an eating disorder but I'm fine now, but I'm still uncomfortable with myself once in a while"..which of course is just silly!  So, I wonder what everyone else assumes they are conveying to new acquaintances?

• I'm also getting entirely too excited about Christmas.  It's only 86 days away, you know!  There are so many things I want to do and make and see.  But, alas-- not enough time (or money) to do them all.  Crafts, decorations, treats (both sweet and savory!), places to go and see and things to do with friends and family... I'm so excited!

• I already planned my cat's halloween costume.  That's right, I am making my cat a halloween costume.  I'm probably the most ridiculous person ever.

• Can't we just buy a house already?

• And while I'm at it, can I please have my own private airplane?  It doesn't even have to be a jet; I'll take a nice turboprop.  When does the HondaJet go into full production?  Can I get in line?

This list has turned into a random list of what's on my mind, and less about exciting posts.  In any case, I'll try to get better about posting.

Protein "Cookies"

Life is busy!  Work is busy, weekends are busy... all in a good way, of course!  I keep thinking of things I want to post about, but haven't gotten around to it clearly.  So for now-- something quick!  Protein "cookies!"

Ok.  So I'm a big fan of protein.  As a vegetarian (ok, pescatarian, I now eat fish when necessary-- mostly to boost the protein, of course!), it's always a challenge to fit in the amount of protein I need/like.  I used to not really pay attention, and was getting "enough" protein, but once I decided to make a conscious effort to really up the protein, I noticed a huge difference.  I can tell when I need protein; lots of times I'm kinda hungry, but really, I can tell I really need protein.  I feel so much better, etc etc etc...  In any case, I also try to 1) widen the variety of protein choices, and 2) rely less on processed, "fake meat" (which I have for dinner, anyway).

Anyway, my breakfast must be two things: chock full of protein, low in sodium, and easy to eat on the go (since I eat breakfast late, at work).  I've been making eggs in the microwave and having yogurt, which is great, but it was time for something new.  So, these protein "cookies" were born!  (I call them "cookies" because i bake them in a muffin tin, but they're kind of a cookie-like consistency..but they certainly aren't normal cookies-- much heavier, which is perfect for breakfast with coffee).

The best part?  SUPER easy:

1/2 cup oatmeal
1 scoop protein powder
1/4 cup egg beaters
splenda and cinnamon to taste.

Mix.  Pat into muffin tins (break into 2 or 3).  Bake at 350F, for ~8 minutes.

SO GOOD.

Calories:  230
Protein:  23g
Carbohydrates: 29g
Fat:  2.5g

I'd like a bit more healthy fats, but oh well.  Other than that, how can you beat those stats?!  And like I said-- absolutely divine with coffee.  Yum.

Ok, I'm done salivating over breakfast.  It's certainly not the most exciting recipe ever, slightly dry and heavy which some people may not like, but I don't mind it.  I love coming up with new food combinations, and it's been a while.  My next quest?  Protein-full biscotti. Balance Bar makes an "almond biscotti" protein bar, which is pretty good.  But I want REAL biscotti, with lots of protein.  I'll have to give it a go sometime.

Any other fun, quick "recipes"?!  Cheap, quick, easy, nutritious...what's better?

ATC - Crowned Cats!

Busy weekend, but in a good way: checking out some houses, watching the last night of racing at the velodrome, hanging out with friends, Sounders game, dinner and time with my parents and brother, and a perfectly lazy but productive (?) Sunday today.

I did finish the cards for the Crowned Cats ATC swap.  Here are mine!

Curious Crowned Cat - Based on a photo from the shelter we got our cat from

Princess Crowned Cat

Sleepy Crowned Cat - Originally based on another photo, but turned into a copy of Xyla!

Thanks! Crowned Cat (last minute :( oops) - quickly based off of Shadow, my brothers' cat

Again, I'd like to think the quality is better in person, AND my scanner kept cutting them off!  But, you can see the gist of them all.

Better post next time!  :)