Mmmm...chutney....

I think I've only had chutney once or twice...but this homemade version (courtesy of Elise Bauer and Craft Mag) looks really good! The recipe looks pretty simple, and you can dress up the jars in any way your heart desires. The ingredients include any combination of fruits (apples, pears, mangos), raisins, currants, or cranberries, sugar, spices, and vinegar. Mmmm...how about some mango chutney on crackers with goat cheese?


This definitely gives me an idea on how to use the extra jars I have left over from the wedding...

Christmas ideas...

It being December 1st and all, my favorite craft blogs have started to roll out their DIY Christmas ideas. I stumbled on a great wrapping paper resource today on Creature Comforts (one of my favorite blogs!) How fun would it be to get a present wrapped like this?


photo courtesy of Creature Comforts
I wouldn't want to open it!
Check out the full tutorial here.

It's always sunny in Philadelphia...

...at least that's what the show is called. The past few days have been gray and dreary, but I'm actually enjoying it!

I got to Philly a week ago for NWP's Annual Meeting. The meeting went by so fast, it's hard to believe that it's over! (it's one of those things that you plan for a year and is over in 2 days - a little like Christmas!) From my perspective it went very well, and most importantly, everyone was very impressed with our new booth exhibit at the convention hall (which I worked on - yay!). Sunday night, Paul's aunt and uncle picked me up, and now I'm in Pottstown just hangin' with the fam. Yesterday I did absolutely nothing but watch about 10 episodes of Law & Order SVU (thank goodness for Netflix On Demand). I'm feeling very well rested and ready for the the week, which includes seeing all of the Boling/Hengst crew.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Engage-a-versary...

It's been 1 year since we got engaged! Kinda hard to believe that we're already married!!


(you can read more here)

Inspiration board of a different kind...

I have baby on the brain. It's not my fault. It's my uterus' fault (uter-i?)

Anyway, one of my co-workers is having a baby girl in February. She's in the midst of moving, and hasn't had time to think of anything baby related. Good thing I love babies and inspiration boards!

The Wine Road

Last weekend was a very special treat - I ventured up to Sonoma County to visit some friends, a new baby, and drink lots of wine! My friend Season won tickets to this event called the "Wine Road." Basically 40 or so wineries were pouring their wine and pairing it with food. YUM. Isaac so graciously was our designated driver (though I'm not gonna lie, he did get some tastes in). I think my favorite place was Mill Creek. Their dessert wine was AMAZING! We even made it out to Korbel to do some champagne tasting. I guess I've never really had good champagne before, because man this stuff was great! In my semi-buzzed state I bought a nice bottle in celebration of meeting Mr. Jack Jeffery Busick. But...I'm jumping ahead.

So, after the Wine Road we made it back to Sebastopol, and Season started cooking up a feast. I made a yummy cheese plate, and some other ARTA folks came over for a mini-reunion. The real pleasure was meeting John and Angi's new little one Jack. What a doll! It was so hard to put him down, he is such a beautiful baby. Definitely got my uterus thumping. The next morning I was pretty incapacitated from all of the wine, so needless to say I did nothing all day. I can honestly say it was the first weekend in MANY months that I got to relax, and didn't feel like I had to do anything. It was great!

Now onto this weekend - nothing planned so far, but the weekends ahead are quite booked. I leave for Philadelphia next Wednesday for 10 days (NWP Annual meeting + Thanksgiving with the in-laws = fun stuff!)






Jack!

Vets Day

Tomorrow is Veterans Day - just a shout out to all of the vets I know (i.e. step-brother, friends, etc) to say THANKS for serving our country. You ROCK!

And in other news...I'm celebrating Veterans Day by doing a little work on the house. I've got a shelving project lined up, plus some painting to do...oh yeah, and those pillowcases for the bedroom. Lots and lots of little projects to get the house ready for the fall.

Have you seen the work I've done on our craft/office room? It's lookin' pretty good if I say so myself...

Pillow talk

I'm a HUGE fan of pillows, and I'm not sure why. I seem to accumulate them every time I'm at Ikea, or TJMaxx, or somewhere else that sells them cheaply. Our bed has become a mound of pillows (which I love, and Paul hates). Guess he hates getting lost in them.

Anyway, since pillow covers are super easy to make, I'm always on the lookout for fun fabric. Yesterday I was at the Crate and Barrel Outlet store in Berkeley (with a giftcard that was burning a hole in my pocket) and found some pretty cool and CHEAP fabric. It was only $4.95/yard (normally $18/yard)! Score!

The first pick was a red and green stripe-ish, holiday inspired one. I made 2 pillow covers with it last night while watching the Phillies lose the World Series. I think they turned out okay!

Before....with Jazzy gettin' up on it

After....the finished product!
The second choice was this pretty aqua green and white floral-ish print. These will look great on our bed. Pics to follow!