Something arrived in the mail today...

I wonder what it is!


Ahhh a pretty little tin


from Tinnie Girl! I had my eye on the pretty flowered tin the moment I saw it in her shop.


So I broke down and bought it. I picked the "surprise" colorway and what a pleasant surprise it was! Full of my favorite color...Purple!!


I urge all you crafty folks to visit Tinnie Girl's shop. It's one of the most unique shops on etsy. And if you like grab bags, you'll want to buy a tin.

Happy Thanksgiving (a day late)!

We've been working like fiends around here to get everything ready (or as ready as possible) for Thanksgiving and our open house the day after. Basically, this consisted of moving boxes from the living room into any available space that isn't within public viewing. Which ended up being the small back porch and my bedroom - as long as I have enough room to lie down and go to sleep, that's all that matters. So here are some pics of the living room in its current state. We're working on getting some flooring but until then we've got throw rugs all over the place.

Yesterday I cooked and cooked then cooked some more for just the four of us (mom, dad, sister & me). It went off relatively smoothly. There was just one small tiff which is mild for a Perry get together these days. But overall, the food was good (if I do say so myself) and the conversation lively. The funny thing is I did all this cooking and forgot one of the most important components of the meal - the pumpkin pie. I had bought all the stuff to make it earlier in the week but when it was time to actually make it it completely slipped my mind. Mom to the rescue! She brought a pumpkin bundt cake with her so we just munched on that for dessert.

Anyway, if you're from America, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and if you're not from America, I hope you had a good Thursday.

As we were unpacking we had a little helper...can you spot her? Look closely...

There she is. Ok, Sasha wasn't so much helping as just getting underfoot and making a mess with all the packing materials. But she's so cute, how could I resist taking pictures?

Yellow

I have not been known to be a fan of yellow in the past (mostly because I look like I'm jaundiced when I wear it), but lately, I seem to be drawn to it. I love all these shades of yellow...

From the buttery to the lemony, I can't seem to get enough of this color!

Photo credits: 1. Jois Handmade on Etsy Cashemere sweater
2. Anthropologie's Sylvan Scene Cardigan
3. Leaves from outside my office
4. Lemons from my lemon tree.

One room at a time...

that's how we're getting this house done. Our first room (and we're very close to being finished) is the kitchen. It is the most important room isn't it? Here are some befores and afters to let you in on what's going on over here...

The color we painted the walls looks really salmony almost peachy in the pictures but it's actually a deeper terra cotta color. It really brings out the brown spots in the granite countertop.

I know it looks like we've finished by these pictures but really, we haven't gotten to the trim work yet, the paint stops about an inch and a half from the ceiling. There's one whole wall that we're painting a deep red, almost a brick color but that wall isn't in any of these pics cuz it's not done yet. Also, what's been cut out of the pictures is all the boxes on the counters - none of our stuff has been put away yet. Where are those darn elves that are supposed to be doing all this for us? No doubt helping put together Christmas toys...bah humbug! I guess that's what the weekends are for, right? So, the next room? I think it will have to be the garage. Cuz if I don't get the workstation set up soon I'm going to go crazy!

It's in the bag!

We are almost done packing. We hope to be all moved out of the condo and into the new house by the end of this weekend. We probably won't have a fridge or a stove but we'll have the satellite all set up and that's what counts. We got this move in the bag!

Time flies!

Has it really been a week?! Wow! Ok, well, here's what I've been up to...

packing. We finally got the official call this week that we closed on the house so now we are all in a tither trying to get inordinate amounts of junk and crap and amounts of clothing that could make you dizzy into boxes that seemed a lot bigger before I brought them home. So I haven't really had the time to do any blogging. Sorry.

Anyway, I've decided that I have just too much of everything. So as a solution on the clothing end of things I went down to my friendly neighborhood Ikea and bought 7 of these bags...

The only clothing I'm keeping will have to fit in these bags. Here's the breakdown...

1. jeans

2.other pants (this includes everything from workout pants to slacks to wear to work)

3. casual tops

4. work tops

5.unmentionables

6.sleepwear

7.misc. (this includes skirts/dresses which I have very few of, scarves, hats, gloves,etc)

That's it, no more than that. I don't think I forgot anything, at least I hope I didn't. Anyway, so today I loaded up 3 big lawn sized garbage bags full of clothes and took them to the thrift store and gave another half a bag to my mom who was kind enough to come over today to help us. When we got back home I noticed a whole shelf of clothing that I meant to give away so I'll be making another trip. It's a sickness, I tell you, having this amount of clothing. I held on to so much, telling myself I'd fit into them again some day...yeah right. Those all went. The only things that I still have that I will never wear again are 1 prom dress, 1 bridesmaid dress, 1 high school football jersey (I didn't play, I wore it when I took stats during games) and my high school letterman's jacket. Somethings just don't need to be let go.

Tomorrow...shoes...ugh!

This is...a favorite recipe I'd like to share

It doesn't look like much in the picture but if you like maple then this is the dessert for you!

I made this last week for a potluck but I didn't quite follow the directions right and it didn't set so it was more the consistency of lemon curd or an ice cream topping than pie filling so if you're gonna make this, make sure you follow the directions and measurements exactly.

Maple Cream Tart

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c pure maple syrup

1 c whipping cream

1/4 c cold water

1/4 c corn starch

1 ready pie crust

In a bowl mix together the water and cornstarch until smooth, set aside. In a sauce pan mix together the syrup and cream and the water/cornstarch mixture. Over medium heat bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Remove from heat. Pour into ready pie crust. Let cool so filling can set. Refrigerate before serving

As far as the pie crust goes, I don't have that in the recipe because I usually buy the kind at the grocery store that you just have to roll out into your pan then toss it in the oven. I haven't tried this using a ready made graham cracker crust but I would imagine it would be really good. Basically, what I'm trying to say is the crust is up to you...if you like making it from scratch, by all means make your own, I'm just too lazy to do that.

As always, check out Three Buttons to find more yummy recipes.