Christmas Necklace

Don't tell my mom, but this is one of her Christmas gifts.  I made it using some marble beads that one of my husband's colleagues brought back from their trip to Turkey a couple of years ago.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and an optimistic 2014!  I'm going to enjoy my Christmas break and be thinking of what direction I want to take things in the new year.  I think it may be time to change things up a bit!  Stay tuned...

Friday Featured Art: Winter Feed

Here's a nice northern Utah winter scene by my brother-in-law, Joseph Alleman.  It's a new piece called Winter Feed, and I thought it was perfect for a cold day like today.

Zazzle Kindle Fire Skins

Zazzle has a great collection of Kindle Fire skins, like these butterflies and this Van Gogh painting.  I really like the fine art ones - I'm just wondering if it would get banged up with use...

Friday Featured Art: Neapolitan Creche

The Art Institute recently acquired a fabulous mid-18th-century creche from Naples.  They're promoting it as the Art Institute's Christmas gift to the city.  I really hope that we'll get downtown to see it before the holidays are over!

Thursday Text: French Women Don't Get Fat

I recently read the book, French Women Don't Get Fat, by Mireille Giuliano, and it was tres interessant!  The advice it contains is about learning to eat for pleasure.  Enjoy what you eat - just make better decisions!  And drink A LOT more water.  And be more active - but that doesn't mean going to the gym...  This is a lifestyle I can get behind.  And the book gave me a chance to practice some French!

The Ultimate Paris

Did you know that Pinterest now has a map feature?  Fodor's put together an Ultimate Paris page with a map and corresponding sights to see.  What a great idea!

Scovil Bakery Gingerbread Cookies

It's that time of year again!  I'm getting ready to make some gingerbread cookies using the recipe from Scovil Bakery in Nauvoo.  Visit this post from 2009 for the recipe.

Mrs. Meyer's Surface Scrub

Have you tried Mrs. Meyer's Surface Scrub?  I've got terrible water at my house, and the tub was getting a little grimy.  I bought some Mrs. Meyer's in lavender (my favorite scent!), and used some elbow grease.  It's fantastic!

Thursday Tunes: Jim Cornelison

Jim Cornelison sang the national anthem a couple of weeks ago at the NIU football game.  He usually sings for the Blackhawks games, and it's one of the greatest renditions ever.  Someone filmed the performance, so you can see it, too!

Pumpkin Whole Wheat Waffles

I found a delicious recipe for pumpkin whole wheat waffles.  It was posted on The Spiffy Cookie by Lauren's Latest.  I've made them a couple of times - if you use the whole can of pumpkin, you can make tons of waffles to freeze.  So yummy.  (This photo is from the original post - go to the link above for the recipe.)

Project Life

Sorry I missed posting last week... my husband had a kidney stone that landed him in the hospital, and then we spent the Thanksgiving weekend recovering (much better now!).  I hope you had a nice holiday!

Have you heard about Project Life?  I discovered it when I was at Archiver's with my friend.  It's a scrapbook system designed by Becky Higgins.  I bought a mini kit from the Dear Lizzy line.  It includes 100 adorable little cards.  Fabulous!