Love You Deer: November 2008

Recycled gift tags

This idea came to me when I was putting our seemingly endless empty boxes of oatmeal in the recycling pile. What could I make with these? Gift tags, of course.

Here are the tools I used:

* Glue Stick
* Scissors
* Empty box (i like the kind with brown cardboard on the inside)
*sturdy hole punch
*holiday catalogs or magazines
* 1.5 inch hole punch
*string

Optional: stamps, photographs and markers

This was really easy. You just take your 1 1/2 inch hole punch (or tag punch) and cut out circles from your empty boxes. Then do the same to pictures you like from holiday catalogs. I really liked using my paper source catalog for this.

Glue your circle catalog cut-outs to the print side of your cardboard cut out. Punch a hole in the top and voila, gift tag!

Put your -to and from- on the back and then put a string or ribbon through the hole. The ideas are endless, you can use photographs or even get other hole punching shapes for your tags. I like the idea of stringing them and making garland.

Buy craft punches: here and here

the countdown begins

This year I am a little nervous about thanksgiving. I'm in charge of making the desserts for both meals I'm going to. One on the actual day here in Floyd and another on Saturday in WV. I requested to make something this year, but I'm nervous.

For starters, I'm making recipes I've never made before: sour cream apple pie, pumpkin cake with brown butter icing and caramelized walnuts, gooey pumpkin cake and something else I haven't decided on yet. I am nervous about them being good, or two sweet for folks who don't like too sweet sweets and just in general not a flop. I don't want anyone saying "let's have lorrie make the stuffing next year".

I'm still working on some out of the box christmas gift ideas that are pending to post. I still need to gather some more supplies, which is going to happen today. I've started putting away the fall decor, which has been up since September and was starting to depress me. I won't lie, I put the stockings out.

Also need to freshen up on my clarinet playing for a thanksgiving day jam session.

What else? oh, I read this and was a little sad that I no longer live in nyc. An underground cooking club, seriously? The lengths they went to. How awesome would that experience be? I've always wanted to be in or start a cooking club, but alas I would be transported to my childhood club starting days (hello, earth club) with occupancy of one.

makin' a list

Monday morning and I’m ready to go. I had big plans of getting up really early this morning, which happened, but I promptly fell asleep next to Josh around my wake-up time.

Getting some coffee ready and making my weekly to-do list. I’ve finally found a system that seems to work for me. I’ve spent years buying notebooks, calendars and filofaxes in hopes of keeping it all filed away. I would spend one day organizing and then never pick it back up again and so I have millions of one day sprees of organization and that doesn’t really work.

Basically I create a little document with the weeks date on the top. Rather than doing things day by day, I just write a huge list of things I want to get done for the week which spaces by the task for check marks. I put some really crazy to-do’s on there like: wash face twice a day and put 14 spaces by it. Or wash dishes before bed with seven spaces, one for each day. Getting the small stuff done somehow makes the less-fun big things easier to get done. I love the feeling of having most items checked by the end of the week.

I put three holes on the side of my list, and keep them in a cheapy folder with pockets. I labeled her “daily assistant”. I like to pretend that I have an assistant, I almost named her.

This week I have a lot of blog catching up to do. I have two blogs that I update on a regular basis and a few visual changes I want to make. I’m also hand-making a lot of my Christmas gifts this year, something I’ve always wanted to do. Every year the date just creeps closer and closer and I always think to myself “I should start this earlier next year”. So this year, I’m starting early.

I love the holiday season, I am ridiculously antsy to start decorating for Christmas. I keep telling myself it would be inappropriate to hang stockings before we’ve eaten the prerequisite turkey and stuffing.

Christmas has always been really exciting to me, my mom did a really great job decorating the house and creating memories. This time of year always has a certain feel and smell to it that I still remember. I know Christmas catches a lot of flak for being so commercial and some people just down right hate the fuss. Its not the presents I remember, although the anticipation cannot be denied. It was the gatherings we went to, the cold air, listening to Christmas music while decorating the tree, watching our favorite Christmas movies on marathon, baking an assortment of treats, sitting in front of the tree for hours.

No longer being a child, or even having a child of my own can bring speculative “why bother” jeers from other people, but I can’t help but feel: why not? Its something that I enjoy and I’m a big fan of making everyday special, using the nice dishes, taking time to make a nice meal, taking time to just be and to enjoy yourself. I’m heavily influenced by two bloggers during this time of year: Posie Gets Cozy & The Black Apple.

Both without children, both with an infectious need to make the most out of our time here on earth, which is something I aspire to be lucky enough to realize. To doing things on your whims even if other people think it is weird or quirky. Not that decorating for Christmas is the most outrageous thing a person can do.

I’m working on some handmade holiday projects that I’m going to share in the coming days leading up to Christmas. I have a lot of ideas for creating decorations and hand made gifts using recycled items we might otherwise throw away or using relatively cheap and easily accessible supplies. There is something rewarding for me to take the time to make something using my hands that doesn’t involve making money, or progressing to some next step. Just being still in that moment, all focus on details and completion.

I’ve also created a wists that can be found on my sidebar, it is full of things that I think are wonderful as gifts. Almost all of them are hand-made, in case you’re looking for a unique item for someone.

savannah blues

Savannah was exactly as I remembered it: beautiful, old and warm. I want to go back and drink sweet tea and spent a few days leisurely walking around the city. Eat some shrimp; take a horse ride around the city. We’re back and I’ve decided two things, maybe three. One: the south is absolutely a good place to go when your current home in the north is taken over with cold, drizzle and fog. Two: never travel with three guys (boys? men?) while being the only female. You will hear and experience things no lady should ever have to. And three, eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant Lady & Sons. You will eat too much and not regret it. Or maybe you will. I didn’t.

{Bride & Groom}

{Bride}

The wedding at Long Boat Key resort was picture perfect. It was right on the beach and the bride was stunning, truly stunning. I consider a wedding to be fancy when you have a choice between beef, fish or vegetarian on your RSVP card. It was fancy, but not over the top. It was simple and elegant. I like that. The music was good, the food was good, the company was nice, and the drinks were flowing. All in all, a pretty good time.

{Waiting for Lady & Sons}

{yummy vietnamese}

{Very handsome}

{Pirate House}

{me & josh before wedding}

Brand new day

Since Tuesday night I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and I've never felt prouder to be an American. We were so nervous all day and the days leading to Tuesday night. You could just feel the tension and excitement mounting everywhere. I can't really express the pride I have for Obama and the possibilities that are coming. The doors have been opened.

Volunteering for Obama this election year has been one of the most satisfying things I've ever done. I never thought I would have the courage to talk to strangers about politics or the gumption to actually do something that I felt was really important. Thats what Obama represents: doing something different. Now that he has won, I'm looking for new ways to channel this energy I have for volunteering.

****

So, its possible that I'm over the moon about going to Savannah today. Getting up at 4:30 this morning when we're not even leaving until 1pm is probably the first sign. I haven't been in a few years and always looked forward to returning. There is something magical about that city.

Friday we are headed to Sarasota for a wedding and then spending one more day in Savannah before we head back to Floyd on Tuesday.