The Holiday Aftermath

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend filled with family and food and joyous times, I know I did!  The aftermath of our Christmas?

All of this:

Is now in our stomachs with a bunch of hearty cookies, tons of feast-y foods, plenty of beverage and a few more candies.  We're looking very much like the Claus himself over here.

More roundup to come, promise!

Musical Monday #8

Welcome back for another Musical Monday!  These were originally inspired by theurchiness over on Brie by Night :)

This week I am sharing with you a song that my good friend introduced me to a few weeks ago when I was having a hard time.  I Was Made For Sunny Days by The Weepies.


What have you been listening to lately?

Happy Holidays!

Yesterday was a fun day spent with family, seeing my brother and his family (including my little nephew!) followed by visiting the Santa Fe Plaza to see some trains

and share some beers with my Dad at the Marble Brewery Tap Room

and ending with massive amounts of baking resulting in cookies and beer for dinner :)

Not to mention, cookies and tea for breakfast!  Thank goodness its only The Holidays once-ish a year, I could develop diabetes overnight at this rate haha.

I hope your Holidays are filled with much joy and love and fun, I'll see you next week!

Chocolate Maven

I got to spend the day with my momma yesterday :)

We took a girls' day in Santa Fe using the perfectly legitimate excuse of having to get her car serviced.  We did some window shopping, plenty of talking and had lunch at one of the best restaurants in town: The Chocolate Maven.

If you are ever in Santa Fe for any reason at all, you really should check this place out. Its part of a standard warehouse looking building, a diamond in the rough if you will.  We got to sit next to the big window that lets you look in on the baking part of the kitchen :D

The food is phenomenal (we got veggie quesadillas - they were the special for the day) and picked up some cookies before we left.

Let me tell you guys, the desserts at this restaurant are To. Die. For.  They are so delicious, my favorites are the Lemon Picadilly Snaps.  They melt in my mouth!  I'm sure they'd melt in other people's mouths too, but I don't want to share to find out.  They're all mine.

I hope your holidays are going well!

Hot Chocolate

I love warm beverages, tea, coffee concoctions, and hot chocolate.  As the weather gets cold and the skies cloud up, the warmth and comfort of a good hot cocoa can't be beat.

Here's how I make mine:

Gather your mug(s)

Put 1 - 2 table spoons of cocoa powder in each

Put 2 - 3 tablespoons of sugar in each

Add other spices as desired (I add cinnamon and chili powder)

Heat up just a bit of water, only about 1/4 cup per mug and add to the dry mixture, stir into oblivion

 Fill mug with milk to the brim

Microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds

Gather friends

Enjoy :)

How do you make your hot chocolates?

Musical Monday #7

Welcome back for another Musical Monday!  I may have skipped a week or two...but the semester is over and I can get back to life!  In case you missed it, these are originally inspired by theurchiness over on Brie By Night :)

Today's song is Bruises by Chairlift


What have you been listening to lately?

Just Walkin' Along, Mindin' My Own Business

and WHAM!

This seemingly innocent, protective little buckle on my trunk in my living (that acts as a coffee table) isn't what it seems.

Really its an evil, knee-demolisher who jumps out of nowhere and takes chunks of unsuspecting victim's legs.

Be aware, readers, you may have one of these terrorists in your neighborhood.  We should start one of those neighborhood-watch-group-things...

Finally Listed! and a walk down by the river

The scarf that I mentioned back here is finally up in my Etsy shop!  It took me longer than anticipated, but its there now and available to be drooled over ;)

In other news, I took a walk the other day with a friend down by the river (there is some water in New Mexico, but not too much, so "river" is loosely defined, some months its there, others its just a giant mud pit). 

Here are some of the views from that trip.

And looky what we found!  A catfish skeleton!  No idea how it got where it was...but its been there a while.

Have you gone on any adventures recently?

Lately

Lately, I haven't been blogging so much.  And for that I apologize. 

Lately, the winter season and all of those things that come with it have been more evident.

Lately, I have been made into an Aunt at the birth of my first nephew, who is 3 weeks old today.

Lately, I have been putting myself, my life and my new home back together because some things have changed (I had full intentions of telling you what, but clearly I'm still not ready to talk about it, my fingers won't type the words).

What have you been up to lately?

Coming Soon

I knit a very similar scarf recently and couldn't bring myself to part with it, and I knew that since I loved it so much, perhaps my wonderful customers would love it too so I made another!

Isn't it perfect?  The colors go perfectly together, and the yarns are all so soft!

I used a few different fibers, wools, merinos, *cashmeres*, all very soft, all very luxurious and all very warm.

What's not to love?  This scarf will be in my shop just as soon as I get model shots with it, which will hopefully happen today...so keep your eyes peeled!



**And to the individual who left a comment on my Happy Thanksgiving post asking about the Mohawk Beanie I made last year, if you could email me, that'd be great! :D **

WoodlandBelle

I just came across the shop WoodlandBelle and am completely smitten!  I love all of her woodland themed accessories, especially the twig hairpins:

I might actually do something with my hair if I had those to put in it :)

Her succulent accessories are super cute also, you can carry your little plants with you! And they'd be easier to take care of too hehe.  And this little butterfly necklace was in  my Favorites FOREVER, its so cute and perfect:

What's your favorite?

Musical Monday #6

Its another Musical Monday!  Inspired by theurchiness over on Brie by Night :)

This week I'm sharing with you Eric Hutchinson singing Rock & Roll.


What have you been listening to this week?

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I know I'm just one of a multitude of bloggers wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving here in the United States, but that doesn't mean that it's any less meaningful :)

I spent all of yesterday afternoon making pumpkin pies from scratch using the same recipe I used last year which you can find here.

I made three standard sized pies (only one homemade crust though, two of them were store bought) and a whole bunch of bite-sized pies, aren't they cute?

Tomorrow, I get to meet my brand new nephew!  And spend all kinds of time with my family eating loads and loads of food and watching Miracle on 34th St.

What are your plans for the weekend?  Fun, friends and relaxing I hope?

A Place To Get Beauty

Where would you expect to find some beauty?  Perhaps a shop called beautyspot?  That's where I found these super cute necklaces:

They're perfect, no?

I can't even pick a favorite!  They're all awesome :)

She also sells rings, earrings, broaches and more, so check her out (and I'm not affiliated in any way, I just want to share her wonderful creations).

Musical Monday #5

Another Musical Monday inspired by theurchiness over on her blog :)

This week I'm sharing with you a song by a band that I am currently in love with and can't stop listening to: Young the Giant.  I saw this band in concert at Sunshine Theater in Albuquerque and now that their CD is out, I've had it on repeat for weeks!


What are you listening to right now?

I'm an Aunt!

My older brother became a father on  Tuesday evening and you know what that means? 

I'm an Aunt!

And you know what that means?

I'm going to be sharing all kinds of baby boy goodies for you :) Starting with this bodysuit by neenacreates:

How cute is that?  Simple but sweet, cute and it gets the point across, what's not to love?

Musical Monday #4

Thanks to theurchiness, I've come to thoroughly enjoy doing these Musical Monday posts :)

This week, I'm sharing a song by a band that I went and saw in concert last Tuesday at the Launchpad in Albuquerque, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's!


The concert was so much fun, I only got a few measly phone photos, but trust me, it was sweet.  Small venue, dedicated fans, we got to stand right up against the stage, get some tshirts and autographs, I can't wait till they come back!

Treasure New Mexico

I was just informed that the very talented inspiredbyelizabeth has included my long-eared beanie with pompoms in her treasury promoting New Mexican artists! 

Check out some of the amazing things being created in the Land of Enchantment :)

Colors and Textures of Fall

I had an ice cream picnic and photo session with a friend last week as part of my resolution to take more pictures.  Here are some of my favorites of the day:

I love the colors and textures that come with Fall, its so interesting to watch things change.

What's your favorite part of fall?

Musical Monday #3

Another Musical Monday!  Initially inspired by theurchiness over on Brie by Night :)

This week I'm sharing Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root.  This song always makes me happy, it reminds me of flipping pancakes and 70s dishware, wouldn't that make you happy too?

What's been playing in your ear this week?

An Eerie Dream

I recently happened upon SwanBones, have you seen them?

I love the pretty, eerie, dreamy quality of her work. 

And isn't the name, SwanBones, just perfect for the shop?

Changes

Another season of changes. The leaves are changing, the weather is cooling, I recently moved into a new apartment with a new roommate, got a new job (in addition to rather than instead of).

Change can cause a lot of stress, but it can also be a great way to keep things fresh. Right now, these changes are not the latter. I'm going to try to change that, ironic no?

In order to make these stressful changes into refreshing changes I will:

• unpack at least 1 hour everyday - I can't function properly in a disorganized environment
• have more tea - the warmth will help me brave the cold weather and get off my butt and into gear
• take more pictures - I do love my camera, Mr. Cliq (pronounced "click"), but we haven't been going on regular dates lately and I know I feel better when we date
• knit more - this is the biggest thing, I haven't been knitting near as much as I should be, it really does help keep me sane and I need my sanity to deal with the additional job, classwork and life changes
• eat healthier - we all know that stress causes us to crave junk food right? no? just me then? ok, personal goal
• blog more - because I like it, and I should do things I like

What changes are happening in your life right now?

Oh, and all of these leaves were found on the same tree!  So many stages of coloring :)

Musical Monday #2

Another Musical Monday, inspired by the Musical Monday posts of theurchiness over on Brie by Night!

This week's song is:


Bring Me Down by Lenka :)

Lenka is phenomenal and super cute, she even did a post for Etsy's Storque!

Stars

Heather, of dylandogleash, contacted me the other day to let me know that she has very graciously put my Star Baby/Toddler Hat in her treasury.

Isn't it gorgeous?

Laser Cut Necklaces and Accessories

I came across this super cute shop early this morning while I was having my wake-up tea (Early Grey with a hint of honey this morning - I switch is up on occasion ;) ) and I knew I had to share it with you all!

VectorCloud is based in New York and produces some of the cutest wood laser-cut designs that I've seen!

Don't we all just need a little more Peace and Love?

I like that you can customize this one, changing out the picture everyday or week to suit your mood.

Which one is your favorite?

Musical Monday

I saw theurchiness posted a Musical Monday post on her blog, Brie by Night and I really like the idea.  Music is a massive part of my days and I'd love to share what I'm listening to with you guys :)

Right now, I'm loving upbeat, lively songs like Animal by Neon Trees, but I'm sure you all know that song so I'll share Kandi by One Eskim0 today.

What's been playing in your ears lately?

Paper Goods

I recently stumbled upon the fantastic little shop of redstarINK, have you heard of it?  Its full of simple and bold paper goods, yes, simple. and. bold.  You can be both, and this shop does it wonderfully.  Check out some of my faves:

The Brainstorm Notebook is perfect!  You can write down all of your ideas as they flow and then whenever you need a jolt of inspiration, just look back through for some forgotten ideas :)

I'm also a big BIG fan of lists, I'll most assuredly forget all kinds of important things if I don't write them down as soon possible, and I really do love crossing them off when I finish a task, it helps me to know that I'm making progress.

As a student, day planners definitely help me get through all of my classes and work schedules, redstarINK has us covered with these academic year planners :)