Christmas cards are out!

I mailed my cards out right after the calendar switched to December, so everyone should have gotten their card by now!  If not, please blame your local post office.  I had to send them out early this year because we have a different address than last year, and I wanted people to have our new address.

This year we went with a grey and red theme.  Funny thing is, as we were leaving the photo shoot from last year (at the Fort Worth Stockyards, in browns and turquoise - see here), I came up with the color scheme for this year.  I just try and keep it different from the year before.  Maybe next year I'll just go traditional red and green!  Hmmmm......that gives me an idea...........

We lucked out in that red and grey happened to be a popular color combo for cards on Tiny Prints.  Unfortunately, their cards no longer include an option where you can put a quote on the back of the card, now only photos.  Last year we used, "Little full.  Lot of sap." from "Christmas Vacation."  This year we were narrowing down our favorite "A Christmas Story" quote to use, only to discover there was no text options!

Funny story - this picture was taken by a co-worker, who used to be a professional photographer.  She asked if I had a place in mind, and the hub and I decided on the Westinghouse campus.  Westinghouse is one of the biggest employers around here and their office campus is huge and park-like.  All those trees behind us were covered in beautiful fall foliage when the hub and I had discovered the area.  Not two weeks later, Hurricane Sandy had managed to blow off all the leaves!  We kept the same location anyways!

more Christmas fun days

Luminary Night in the neighborhood

Every year, our neighborhood association hands out luminary bags and candles to all 303 homeowners, and everyone sets their out along their sidewalk.  We drove around the neighborhood to see the effect, and it was breathtaking.  Though, I have heard rumors that those who don't participate are ostracized, and I can see why - the continuance of lights is enchanting.

Tomorrow, Santa Claus is coming to town - to Britton's daycare class, to be exact.  And Saturday is my company's kid party, with ornament painting and another visit with Santa Claus.  But it is a good chance for her to meet the kids of some people I work with, and the party is at our favorite apple orchard and farmer's market.

Then, one week from TODAY, it's Christmas.  Are you ready?  We are.  I'm ready to slow down, take a breather and put my feet up, be with my family, and just take a moment to remember what Christmas is all about.  

a christmas story road trip

The hub and I planned to go up to Cleveland Saturday to visit the "A Christmas Story" house.  While the movie wasn't actually shot in the house, the outside of the house and the street were used in the movie, as was a school in Cleveland.  

Twinsburg hosts a Twin Festival every year, and one day Jessica and I will make it there.  In matching clothes!

The hub and I figured we had planned pretty well, since it wasn't the weekend directly before Christmas.  

What we didn't plan on, however, was Groupon offering a 50% off admission deal on Thursday.  So that little coupon turned into a ridiculous line at the house.  Complete with food truck, I kid you not.  But we didn't care.  See, since the house inside wasn't used in the movie, it's just been recreated to look like the movie.  So I wasn't keen on waiting in a line to see a mock movie set anyways.  The hub and I decided to head straight to the gift shop!

See that couple there?  I wasn't taking a picture of them, even though passersby probably thought I was, and how creepy is that?  No, I was just taking a picture of the leg lamp in the window of the house!

The gift shop is a small house located across the street from the movie house.  Look, I'll level with you - you're driving down some narrow street in a neighborhood that has probably seen better days, then WHAM - the house is right in front of you.  The house, the museum, and the gift shop are all in the same area, probably sold by grateful owners who just wanted to get away from the traffic and lines of living so close to the "A Christmas Story" house.  So the gift shop is tiny, and on Groupon 50% off day was just downright crowded.  We did manage to pick up a Department 56 Ralphie's house, a Department 56 figurine of the guy delivery the "major award," and some stocking stuffers.  

We did venture into the Museum because the Museum was included in the ticket price.  There was an actress there, a woman who played one of the elves at Higbee's Department Store.  She was saying that for the first couple of years after the movie came out, she left it off her resume because it was critically panned.  But as it grew a following, she gladly put it back on her resume!  Also, the guy who played the delivery man of the leg lamp was there!

the jen quilt

First of all, can you guys believe it's 12/12/12?  How crazy is that?  Second of all, here is the Jen quilt!  This baby has been a long time in the making, let me tell you.  The fabric line is "Salt Air" by Moda, and I remember impatiently waiting for this line to make its debut in March 2012.  When it finally arrived, I bought charm packs and yardage, not quilt sure what design I wanted to try.  Well, I stumbled upon this "spinning pinwheel" pattern (not even sure if that's the technical name for this pattern), and I loved how it would showcase the fabrics.

Well, I started in on this last spring and the whole project just got pushed to the side after half of the blocks were completed.  I liked the pattern, I loved the fabric, but I just wasn't feeling gung-ho about the whole process, and honestly I was a little burned out on quilts bigger than a baby quilt.  Each quilt is such a time investment (for instance, this one took about 20 hours from start to finish) that I just wanted a project that was easy.

But then, as luck would have it, my friend Jen emailed me and asked if I would make her a snuggly quilt.  Instantly I thought of this quilt.  And when she said she was redecorating her living room in oranges and greys, I knew this quilt would coordinate, but not be so matchy-matchy.  Then it hit me.  The reason I couldn't get going on the quilt before is that it was waiting on an owner, and that owner wasn't me.  Once the quilt had an owner, finishing it was not a long drawn-out process anymore.  In fact, it was relaxing and easy.

A close-up of one of the stars and the free-motion quilting, done in my oh-so-favorite loopy loops.  And a glimpse of the whale tail fabric and waves fabric.

Target was having a sale on their nice bedsheets, so I got this grey sheet for only $11!  No way could I get material for that little, and the sheet means I don't have to piece the back together.  I was originally planning on doing the quilting in white thread for the front and blue for the back (to give it interest).  But I couldn't get my sewing machine set to where the blue wouldn't show up on the front.  So I gave in and did all the quilting in white.  I like how it shows up on the back, but isn't too much.

When I free motion quilt, I sneak in a hidden heart.  Except in Memaw's Swoon quilt, which got Mickey Mouse ears instead (see quilt here).  I told Jen about the hidden heart, but I never said where she could find it!  Now it's like "Where's Waldo?" over at her house!  Hopefully this picture gives her a good hint as to which fabric to check.

The binding is the "cabana stripe" of the collection, and ya'll know how I love my striped bindings!

I got it finished up last week, and mailed it out this weekend.  Jen got it two days later (only because I insured it and tracked it - if I hadn't, the package would be lost right now) and immediately let me know she had received her surprise and would be commencing the non-stop snuggling right away!  Hopefully she loves it forever and lets her kids use it or picnics or forts, because the best way to break in a quilt is to use the heck out of it.  

bathroom remodel: FINISHED!

Can you feel the excitement?  As of yesterday evening, these two bathrooms were DONE DONE DONE!  I'll start with the downstairs powder room.  Not much changed here, except the vanity, paint color, light fixture, mirror, and accessories.  Everything went from brushed nickel to oil rubbed bronze.  

The vanity itself is a HUGE improvement.  This vanity is by Martha Stewart for Home Depot, and is a good six inches taller than the previous vanity.  The mirror matches the vanity.  

See Britton peaking in to see what I'm doing?

We used the same paint in both bathrooms, mainly because I didn't want to buy two gallons when they would only need one gallon total!  I decided to buy samples this time because I wasn't sure how the skylight would affect the colors.  My first choice "Sea Salt" by Sherwin-Williams was a no-go.  Way too light, and just washed out next to the shower tile.   Same with "Livable Green."  I sent the hub to Benjamin Moore to get two more greens.  Finally, after covering the walls in the four samples and consulting with Mr. Bob over my lunch hour, we arrived at a decision...."Guilford Green" by Benjamin Moore.  I've noticed that all my pictures show different greens, and only one that actually looks close to the real wall color - this one:

                                       

Now, on to the main hall bathroom upstairs!  If you remember (and I try not to), this bathroom had blue and white plaid linoleum flooring, a faded shower/tub insert, a short vanity, a mirror across most of one wall, and a tiny round toilet.  Now...

                       

The mirror is specific to the vanity style.  And it seems rectangle sinks are in vogue now, since we inadvertently put them into both bathrooms!  I love this light fixture - the glass shades are milk glass.  I did promised Britton that Mr. Bob would make her a princess bathroom, so when we stumbled upon a princess hand towel and castle soap dispenser set at Target, we were sold!

For some reason, to enhance this picture enough to see the green knob, it makes the cabinet look red!  It's not, and the darker wood just sets off these beautiful knobs.  Being glass, they cost as much per knob as 5 acrylic ones total, but the weight and sparkle can't be matched.  Definitely a place to splurge.

The floors are in an offset pattern, a favorite of mine since we had them in our house in Texas.  At first Mr. Bob was afraid the grout was drying too light (it is light grey, not white), but I think it sets off the tiles beautifully. 

Sadie was in a funk today because she misses Mr. Bob and his crew's daily visits.  For two weeks, she was the star of the show and had oodles of their attention.  Now she's old hat to all of us, and she misses the accolades.  Cheer up Sadie!  We have two new bathrooms to celebrate!

anatomy ultrasound

We had our anatomy ultrasound today!  Last night Britton decided she needed to get up four times between 2:30 am and 4:00 am, so needless to say we were all running late this morning.  And it was raining.  So while I made it to the appointment on time, the hub was delayed by taking Britton to daycare.  Luckily, he made it there in time to see this...

Look at those legs all folded up!  The tech confirmed that we are indeed having a boy, and this boy gave her a heck of a time!  He was all folded up on himself and sleeping.  She had a jostle him awake to get a good view of the organs, and he never straightened out enough to get a good shot of the spine.  She said that the spine looks good, but I do have a low-lying placenta again, and that will require monitoring.

Here are the hands (top) and feet (bottom).  The tech goes, "Here are the ankles, so no club feet here!"  That's oddly not so reassuring. But we did get to see him "scratching" his forehead, then curling back up for a nap.

More profile shots.  A perfectly round head (until birth, that is).  And everything is in order, developing as it should.  Now it's time to start decorating that nursery!

deuce: 18 weeks

18 weeks along, and it feels like it's flying by.  Maybe it's because of the bath remodels, or work being crazy, or life in general, but the weeks are speeding by me.  I am up a whole 4 pounds for the entire pregnancy.  I went to my doctor's appointment last week, and they stuck me with one of the doctors I haven't met yet.  Of course, the idea is that you meet all the doctors at some point, so that if your primary doctor can't get to the birth, then you'll at least have met the doctor that delivers for you.  Turns out, my OB/GYN practice is the on-call OB/GYN of the hospital, so I suspect that I'm getting whichever doctor happens to be on-call that day.  

Well, I meet the new male doctor.  I have to emphasize male because I've never had a male OB/GYN and I'm not starting now.  I don't take my car to a mechanic who rides a bike.  I don't get tattooed by a tattoo-less artist.  Nope.  Just my little hang-up.  Well, he didn't endear himself to me at all because he told me I have to get my gestational diabetes test early, in the 20th week.  That's a whole EIGHT WEEKS early.  See, my original doctor, a sassy lady who complimented my shoes, said I wouldn't have to take the test early because my after-delivery re-test was in normal range.  But, no - this guy blows in and tells me I have to take it early.  UGH.

My ligament pain is ridiculous.  I didn't have ligament pain with Britton until I was a good eight months along.  I remember that it didn't start until I could no longer lift my legs to put on pants - after that it all went downhill!  But now I get a horrible pain if I so much as sneeze, and sleeping soundly is a joke.  My feet get so badly swollen that I have to wear sneakers to work every day.  If I dare wear flats, I end up with feet that hurt so much I can't walk.  I think I'm getting too old for this!  

We have our anatomy ultrasound on Monday, and I'm ready for the "everything looks great" guarantee.    It's more to me that just learning the sex, but then again I can say that because we already know! I just like seeing the organs and the spine and seeing everything in its place.  

And that leads me to names....boy names are hard, people.  Hard.  You don't want anything too fancy, nothing too finicky, or a name that may end up in 10 years becoming a girl-dominated name.  We're keeping a running list on the fridge, and waiting a few more months to be sure we love the name we pick.