Springtime in Paris

I have to tear myself away from the Superbowl — it’s too stressful!  (Ok, I’m kidding — I’m going back in a minute!)

Yesterday was our (MeMum and I) annual visit to the kids’ old school to sneak a peek at their big yearly auction and dinner.  The theme this year was Springtime in Paris.  Our sneak-in-excuse is that we want to view all the things that are being auctioned.  There were lots of cool things to buy — items ranged from a real puppy (this year a golden retriever) to a trip to Paris.  MyDadLovesMeBestSister works at the school and she and CrazyBIL auctioned off a crepe making party at their house for high school kids.  Their auction  basket is in the picture below.  (I embroidered the little french chef on the towel for her.  ;-) )

As you enter the main room, you walk through a hallway.  The ceiling of the hallway was covered with upside down umbrellas and lights — it was pretty cute.  Once inside the main room, there was a big Eiffel Tower all lit in blue lights.

It was really dark in there this year, which made picture taking a little difficult.  We went earlier this year, to avoid the disapproving looks we got last year, but imho, it turned out to be a little too early.  The tables weren’t completely set yet.  I love seeing them with all the wine glasses for all the different courses of the meal.

I have to say, I was a little disappointed in the decor this year.  It wasn’t nearly as pretty as it has been in past years.  My favorite years have been when they select children’s books as their theme.  It makes for much more colorful and cheerful decor.

It’s really hard to see in the above picture, but if you look to the left, you can see the flower baskets that they had hanging over each table.  The baskets had lights, and it wasn’t until I got home and looked at pictures that I realized that they also had candle holders.  I wonder if they put candles in them for the evening — if they did, it would have made them really pretty.

No matter what the theme, they always have gorgeous flowers on display.  This year was all about spring and therefore lots of tulips.  I also took a picture of this little tray of chocolates — you know, in honor of my word of the year — chocolate.  ;-)

I suspect they’ll start planning for next year’s gala in the next few weeks.  I sure hope they go back to a children’s book theme!

XOXO,
Anna

Cupcakes in a Hurry

So. I was happily minding my own business, having a very boring week (wondering what I could possibly blog about, I might add), and when I got to work this morning, there was an e-mail announcing that we’re going to have a potluck lunch tomorrow in honor of the Colts playing in the superbowl on Sunday. (In case you don’t know, we do live in Indiana.) Apparently the stars were all aligned because I just saw this post last night. I really don’t care much about football, but cupcakes…cupcakes are another story! I’ll go for any excuse to make cupcakes!

So, at lunchtime, I grabbed the little Petunia I work with (she’s TheFirstChild’s age - eek!) and we ran over to the local cake decorating store. They had all the goodies we needed (they even had cool stuff for Saints fans), including this cool new stuff I’d never worked with called Disco Dust. I was just going to use sprinkles, but little Petunia thought this stuff was so cool and convinced me to try it.

Can you see the sparkles? Sometimes you can’t see it in pictures, but I managed to get a highlight or two. It’s like superfine edible glitter and it’s really fun to work with.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish making about 12 of those little Go Colts! flags.  And then eat a cupcake of course.  Never let a diet stand in the way of a cupcake!

Have a good weekend — and don’t forget to root for the Colts! ;-)
XOXO,
Anna

Soap Bottle Love

Everyone having a good weekend???  A certain little someone is having a birthday today!  {Pssst….run over there and wish her a Happy Birthday and maybe she’ll post that Spanish Rice recipe that I keep nagging her about!!!}

Happy, Happy Birthday Brigette!!!

While Brigette has been celebrating her birthday weekend, I’ve been wasting my time keeping myself busy making little hand soap/sanitizer bottle covers.  (Otherwise known as avoiding the real work that should be done around here.)

Here’s a little close up of some of the details.  Look at that ADORABLE little silver flower button that Mrs. Pebble sent to me a few weeks ago.  (I Looooove Mrs. Pebble’s silver creations, and don’t worry, that button is far too valuable to languish away on a soap bottle — I just thought it would be cute there for now, until I find a proper home for it.)  Also, ’cause someone will probably ask, the Little Red Riding Hood ribbon came from Sew Deerly Loved, although she appears to be out of it now.

What to do with all those little bottle covers?  I suppose they’d make a nice gift in this cold and flu season.  And it is almost Valentine’s Day, although I’m not really sure what kind of a signal it sends to give your loved one a bottle of hand sanitizer.

Roses are red,

Violets are blue.

You’re full of germs,

But I still love you!

Do you think it’s too mushy???

XOXO,
Anna

We Need A Cat Whisperer

Last week, we experienced a little hijinx around here.  It seems that someone has developed a fondness for my sweaters.  ????  Every night when we came home from work, we found one of my sweaters in a crumpled pile on the floor, in a different room of the house.  (And just for the record, I don’t leave them thrown all over the house — they sit folded on a shelf in our bedroom closet.)

We narrowly escaped disaster on Tuesday — that sweater was halfway to never being seen again.  Given extra time, it could have been sucked into the abyss-under-the-bed.  The first few days we just laughed, thinking it would be short lived.  But, toward the end of the week, it was clear that someone, was enjoying this little game.  In an effort to thwart the prankster, I closed the closet door on Friday morning before I left for work.  Being smarter than the average cat, our little felon managed to get the door open.  It deterred him enough though, that he only had time to pull a few sweaters off of the shelf — but no time to drag them around the house.

So.  The big question is…who’s the guilty party?  Paul?

Or TheEmptyNestChild???

At least this time, we know it’s not the monkey.  He’s been safely locked away since the last event.

Feel free to provide parenting advice.  ;-)

XOXO,
Anna

Curious Cables

A month ago, I read this post over at Karen’s and saw the prettiest cable socks ever! I commented and asked Karen if the pattern was available on Ravelry. Not yet, she said — it’s her own pattern and would I like to test it for her?   Would I???  I jumped at the chance, as I’m a BIG fan of cables.

So, I set about test knitting and had the best time. I had big plans to be able to take the sock pictures in our pretty snow, but it’s been raining here and the snow is almost all gone. I was able to muster up enough for a little bitty snowman. With a little bitty hydrangea hat.

But I digress — we’re talking socks here! Karen’s pattern is beautifully written. It has several pictures (her socks are a much prettier blue than mine) and she writes the instructions for the cables three different ways — row-by-row, on a graph, and formula-like — so no matter what kind of “learner” you are, she has you covered.

The yarn I used is a Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock hand-dyed yarn in Cookies’ Deep Dark Secret colorway. I wanted a plain yarn so the cables would really stand out.

Thanks to MyDadLovesMeBestSister for being the sock model.  We were taking pictures on top of this wall, then decided to hang her feet over the wall.  When we did that, Mr. Snowman yelled “Wait for Me!” and jumped over the side.  He managed to cling to the edge for approximately 7.3 seconds.

Poor little guy — he’s all melted now. But, the cables are still around and if you love them like I do, you can get Karen’s pattern here, on Ravelry. (And in case you’re wondering, I don’t get a bonus or anything — I just think these socks are darn cute!)

Oh, and I have one more teeny little recommendation for you. The Young Victoria. We saw it this afternoon and I loved it. It made me cry. Did I tell you, I loved it?

XOXO,
Anna