connect the dots.

happy birthday lucy.

2009-11-12T13:00:00.011-05:00

one of the LOVES in my life has a big ole' birthday today. we'll be celebrating pretty low key this year. no hats or dressing up but we'll be sure to shower her with presents, Frosty Paws and even more love than she gets every other day of the year. these are just a handful of things we can do to celebrate our appreciation of her never-ending love & loyalty!

(click to enlarge & see the many faces of LUCY)
happy 6th birthday LUCY :)

happy poppy day.

2009-11-11T11:07:00.007-05:00

happy Veteran's Day everyone!
Thanks to all those who are serving or who have served our country!

and to all my canadian friends and family...
happy remembrance day!

christmas countdown begins.

2009-11-04T15:27:00.012-05:00

50 days until Christmas. Yikes!!!
Every year I try to begin early and get as much done as early as possible. This year - having SERIOUS trouble getting the momentum! Lots of distractions with house renovations, baby related excitement and work kicking into major high gear. Drats.

Last night I was reading an article on 'simplifying the holidays' and had to laugh aloud at the tip "try moving other projects to different parts of the year". don't see that in our future! there isn't the time, nor the energy, to be as creative and crafty as I usually like to be. that is probably the most overwhelming part.

Haven't set the holiday budget, made the lists yet, thought about Christmas cards, nothing. Better get cracking! I will take their suggestion to set small, attainable goals.

(i take that back, I actually have purchased some items and can cross one person off our list. consider progress made!)

it's a BOY!

2009-10-30T06:38:00.014-05:00

yesterday we had our anatomical scan and got to watch Baby King live and in all his glory for about 25 mins. i started to feel his kicks last week and now a day doesn't go by where I'm not poked, prodded or kicked throughout the day. he (yes, i'll get to that part) was very active at the scan - alternating between sucking his thumb, giving the technician a few punches back when she wanted him to move her way, and when all was quiet looking at his heart and other internal organs - giving a few swift low-blow kicks to remind us he was there.
(i think he was waving at us in this one!)
him being a 'him' came into view quite clearly. and more than once! he definitely doesn't seem to be camera shy (who had any doubts?!) and he had a blast showing off his goods every time the camera came near his tush. quite the little acrobat already. she knew we wanted to know the gender but before she even had a chance to point it out it - i knew it was a boy!
it's quite fascinating all the measurements and photos (like 75!!) they take. they spent quite a bit of time on all the internal organs measuring all 4 chambers of the heart, the blood flow, size of the kidneys, lungs, spine measurements, stomach and brain scans. so far everything is looking good and the little one is measuring a week ahead of schedule.

everything is pretty easy to follow when you have a technician explaining everything but i'm afraid the recording may not have taken audio. i wouldn't know though b/c a) i forgot to ask and b) it's a VHS! i'll need to get that converted to a technology of this decade so we can watch it again.

until then - we're holding onto these memories of our already perfect baby boy!!

witch finger cookies.

2009-10-28T07:41:00.014-05:00

now this recipe was tasty, festive & fun!

To take a break from attic renovations last weekend, we didn't go to Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe as planned b/c we had already made witchy finger cookie treats!!

Here's the recipe:
1-1/4 cups Sliced Almonds
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups flour

HEAT oven to 325ºF.

RESERVE 60 almond slices for later use as finger nails; chop remaining almond slices.
Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar, extract and salt in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy.
Gradually beat in flour. Stir in ground nuts.

ROLL dough into 40-60 (3-inch) "fingers," using 1 Tbsp. dough for each.
Place, 2 inches apart, on baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray.
Press 1 of the reserved almonds into dough @ end of each finger.

Shape for appropriate 'witchy-ness'. (Try using a sharp knife to make slits in top of each finger for the knuckles)

BAKE 15 to 20 min. or until lightly browned.

Cool a few mins; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.

(here's my mother trying to imitate her exact finger) (i perfected the female witchy fingers)

they're like a dense almond shortbread cookie & are the perfect match to coffee or tea. (they perk up my decaf!)

objects in mirrors

2009-10-26T19:35:00.002-05:00

are closer than they appear!

woof!

lucy's excited b/c we were headed for stroll @ the beach.

sugar mountain high.

2009-10-22T00:41:00.007-05:00

uh oh.

a gourmet cupcake shoppe is opening within WALKING distance from my work. (0.08 miles, to be precise)

they have a rotating cupcake menu which appeals to me most EVERY day of the week. (with 35 flavors, it's not hard)

i'm sensing TROUBLE!!

i tried to have an emergency meeting there at 5:30 last night but they're not opened yet. my co-worker and i walked away sad.

a little birdie told me they may have free samples on their opening day, which is this Saturday for anyone local.

Mom - since you'll be local this w/e I think we'll need to break from attic renovations and have a mandatory 'naming baby king' brainstorm session at the shoppe...

Yay for cupcakes!!

(and, if anyone from sugar mountain bake shoppe is reading my blog - your signage could be improved tremendously. like put one up please! (those interested - it shares the building with La Tea Da) oh - and there's a spelling error on your website. it's spelled Rochester. since we're dealing with CAKE here - i won't hold any grudges)

ode to my singer.

2009-10-20T20:51:00.003-05:00

dear ms. singer,

i thank you for your hard work & dedication the last few years. from the first moment I swept (read: stole) you from my mother (who demanded to have it returned but i managed to steal you back) you have given me all the attention, love and most of all PATIENCE a sewing novice could ask for. and i thank you for that.

you're about as old as me, but much, much wiser in sewing years. you've stood by me with all my rookie mistakes, and despite the lack of online help/tutorials for singers 3 decades old - we've made it through several rough patches together. you've allowed me to create clothes, aprons, placemats, pillows, and oodles of other FUN projects!

a month ago, when i thought you gave up on me, i was happy to part ways given our last hurrah together was this itty-bitty baby dress (free pattern courtesy of one of my favorite sewing blogs, madebyRae). i fully admit to shopping around, taking demo classes on newer machines with LOADS more features, and even flirting with the idea of spending nearly 2x our mortgage payment on a younger model. even worse, i day-dreamed about all the good projects to come...

i shamefully admit this to you b/c thanks to my mother - we're back in action again and i don't want any hard feelings. she's reminded me, once again, that most all my sewing hurdles are related to operator error. i don't want any hard feelings as we glide back into our normal pace again, ok? we've got quite the backlog of projects as well as new baby ones on the docket... so let's get to it!

yours truly,
miss sewing-novice nicky

ps - in the spirit of full disclosure, i refuse to take the Emerald 830 off my christmas list. there is room for two in my craft room :)

team pink or team blue.

2009-10-19T16:23:00.002-05:00

t-minus 10 days until we find out if baby king
is a prince or a princess!!

i love lists.

2009-10-16T06:26:00.000-05:00

most close to me know i'm a list person. lists, lists and more lists! I LOVE LISTS. usually my lists take shape on whatever extra recycled paper or notebooks i have handy. but not anymore!!!

i've been following this valedesign blog for awhile now. their style is clean and fun, not too modern and they have TONS of free, crafty downloads in the shape of FUN labels, tags, stickers, cards and to-do lists. (and even more!) i've used a bunch of them but for the record, haven't needed to pull out the happy husband kit yet!

i can't wait to use their new HONEY-DEW list. i'm hoping this fun, bright, cheery list increases the conversion rate of being able to cross things off it!! wish me luck :)

just skip on over to their site, download and ENJOY!

pregnancy announcement.

2009-10-14T07:28:00.003-05:00

sharing the news with our family was one of the biggest excitements we've had since getting pregnant. we wanted to make the announcement extra special.

baby king picked out the CUTEST shirts on cafepress.com to gift to our immediate fam. they all have fun sayings like 'grandma to bee', 'great dads get promoted to grandpa', auntie', and (my personal favorite) 'say uncle'.

one of baby king's grandmas is quite the m&m lover. (there are ALWAYS m&m's on hand at her house and she rarely travels without them) we thought it'd be cute to gift personalized m&m's with the due date on them in blue, pink & white. some say 'girl?' same some 'boy?' grandma was pleased with this part of the surprise!!

finally - there was a photo of baby king. depending on whether the gift was hand delivered or mailed, some got a photo of the baby when it was the size of a lima bean @ 7 wks and others got a photo of our 12 wk ultrasound. either way - baby king looks pretty darn cute.

our families were thrilled with the news and hopefully their little gift packages too!!

happy bday hubby.

2009-10-12T08:43:00.004-05:00

my hubby has a birthday today!! i wanted to make him a special bday dinner however he got roped into working a night shift. (boo) so we scooted out to a late lunch in between meetings @ the Gate House Cafe in Village Gate.

i've been there a few times for lunch. they have really YUMMY wood fired pizzas and gourmet burgers. it was no surprise (to me atleast) the birthday boy picked a burger with bacon and blue cheese. topped with pesto mayo... YUM. i got a pizza and will be enjoying the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. double YUM.

happy birthday mcallister!!

meet baby king.

2009-10-06T09:13:00.008-05:00

i had an idea of what i was gonna yack about today. but then i realized there were a few milestones achieved on this brisk, fall October morning.

1. this will be my 350th blog post.
2. i am 100 days pregnant.

yup - that's right folks. i fell off the face of the blogging earth quite some time ago for several reasons I won't go on to mention because i'd rather revel in the best news we've had this year:

mcallister and i are gonna have a baby.

words cannot even begin to describe how blessed we feel and how ecstatic we are that our home is going to grow by two feet. we'll be meeting baby king for the first time next march but until then... i share with you a few glimpses of he/she that we've seen so far:

we love you with all our heart baby king!!

happy fall ya'll.

2009-10-01T12:41:00.004-05:00

Fall is my FAVORITE season so cheers to the first day of October! And to not being behind on my FALL decorating for once!

Bring on the layers :)

rosette felt pillow.

2009-09-29T07:49:00.005-05:00

speaking of felt, I found an EXCELLENT tutorial on etsy the other day. a pillow filled with clusters of gorgeous felt rosettes. i love the orange but don't have a place for it so I'll have to find another suitable color. FUN!

roasted veggies.

2009-09-26T19:28:00.003-05:00

i've been craving roasted veggies on just about everything lately. they're one of my favorite things about summer!

felt craft hearts.

2009-09-24T12:33:00.010-05:00

remember i talked about felt crafts back here when i decorated for Valentine's Day? well it is just so easy-peasey and affordable to work with FELT, you never know when another project will pop up! i recently made baby lela a pink heart doorknob hanger for her room and tried out stitching a monogram for the first time. not bad.

next FELT project up: baby booties & some felt frames (proj courtesy of Martha Stewart). here's the how-to on the heart from my projects page.

heart shaped egg.

2009-09-19T09:19:00.000-05:00

i LOVE making fried eggs for breakfast with our new heart shaped egg molder. it's made of rubber silicone so you can change the shape of the egg at a moments notice. sometimes i'm in the mood for short round hearts and sometimes i'm in the mood for long, SKINNY hearts. today i made a round short heart egg to fit snugly in my newest addiction, thomas' mini bagel. top with red hot and enjoy!

baby girl myers.

2009-09-18T11:19:00.010-05:00

has arrived!!! yippeee :) Lela Evangeline Myers arrived this morning at 10:20am. 6 lbs 14 ozs, 19 inches. we hear Momma and baby are doing PERFECT. congratulations to the myers family on your sweet, new bundle of joy!!

chicken wing birthday

2009-09-17T09:15:00.002-05:00

happy birthday carol! congrats on trying your first chicken wing & being such a good sport to put the Anchor Bar's chicken hat on.

ps - that's right. the Anchor Bar, famous for the 'very first chicken wings' opened here in Rochester. like a block away from my work. YUMMMMM.

Face2Face Tour Re-scheduled!

2009-09-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

On July 24th, Allison and I were seriously, SERIOUSLY disappointed when the Elton John/Billy Joel concert was postponed. Like WHO DOES THAT?!? Apparently Billy was having a 'bout of exhaustion. Well we got good news today - the concert has been re-scheduled!! Woo-hoo :) It's about darn time. 6 months later we'll get to see them. Billy - I'm hoping you're well rested by Dec 4th!!

ultimate white cake.

2009-09-15T13:06:00.004-05:00

if you enjoy cake, live near a Wegmans and haven't tried their Ultimate White Cake yet - bring one home tonight!! i'm a super-duper cake lover and this one is INCREDIBLE. tastes better than most wedding cakes and blows the ultimate right out of their ultimate chocolate cake (which was pretty darn good). last week the store was giving out $1.00 coupons that can be used on either size, so i took a few extra :)

it's the mildly sweet vanilla buttercream that does it for me. i'm getting HUNGRY just thinking about it!

dougie's 60th.

2009-09-14T13:53:00.003-05:00

If you see the GOOSE buy him a beer because he's 60 today!!

Happy Birthday DOUGIE :)

bearded garden keeper.

2009-07-14T19:45:00.002-05:00

hubby, er the bearded man below, is tending the garden this summer.

he also is tending a beard that won't be chopped off until school is back in session.

missing florida.

2009-06-15T10:50:00.001-05:00

latley i've been missing florida, sunshine and JUSTINE. here are a few pics that remind me of our past trips. i've got the cartoon-y like one of Jon and I up as my desktop wallpaper. LOOK OUT!!