Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from snowy Edwardsville! Our first ever white Christmas!

So far:
• Cirque Dreams Holidaze at the Fabulous Fox Theater (amazing!!)
• Food
• Just Dance on the Wii (best game ever!!)
• Minute-to-win-it
• Playing in the snow
• Christmas Eve breakfast
• Gift Exchange--"Dad Style"
• Movies
• Christmas story (as told on cassette, from 1992)
• More food
• Christmas morning presents
• Raccoons getting into the "fridge" outside (a red cooler, but because it's so cold outside, we just keep food out there :)
• Loving the decorated house & just being home.

Giveaway + How To + Get Well Soon!

First, a little "get-well-soon-shoutout" to my seester, Katie. She had surgery today and is having to take it easy for a few days (hopefully just a few days!)...Katie can share the details! :) I was hoping that I'd have lots of blog content (funny stories from the operating room), but unfortunately it was a pretty uneventful day. She does claim that the male nurses were hitting on her...I'll let her tell that one! :)

Second, I think it's safe to show off my "ornament" for the Freshly Blended ornament swap that I participated in, along with a how-to! I kind of, might of, ok...I didn't make an ornament. I made a paper garland instead, but I felt it was ok! These garlands are super easy and fun to make, and they're fun to use for holiday decor.

What you'll need: a circle punch, paper, and a sewing machine. I love my circle punch from Fiskars...easy on the hands and you can see right where you're punching. Punch out a bunch of circles...I used scrapbook paper, and can get about 110ish 1" circles out of a 12x12 piece of paper. When all your circles are punched, you're ready to sew! Feed your circles through the sewing machine, just like you would with fabric. Make your garland as long or as short as you like! Easy. For directions with pictures, here's a post over on Armelle Jewelry's blog, with some fun pictures of her garlands in use!

Third, because the garlands are so easy-peasy to make and because I had lots of left over paper that needed to be fashioned into a garland, I decided to make another garland for a giveaway! This garland is probably about 15 or so feet in length, so plenty of garland to use as a last minute Christmas decoration somewhere in your home. Cute Christmas colors: red + green + gold...you can't go wrong with that combo! Simply leave a comment, and I'll draw a winner on Thursday evening.

Lastly, I hope you're enjoying the holiday season. I don't know that I'm totally there yet, but I'd better start enjoying the season soon--Christmas is NEXT week! Yikes. So much to do, so little time. I love this time of year; I love the kindness and thoughtfulness of everyone that you run into--friends and strangers alike. I love Christmas!

Coming Soon...

...a giveaway!

I've been busy making my "ornaments"* for the gift exchange that I'm participating in, and have a couple extras. I'm shooting for Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed!

*ornaments is in quotes for a reason...it'll make more sense when you see it/them :)

Just a thought

Saw this thought as I was browsing a new favorite blog of mine: joy ever after. It's located down at the bottom of the page, just below where you click to go to the next page. I've never heard this quote, but I've fallen in love with it! I've always loved so many different things, and now I can justify loving a ton of different things! (This is also probably the thing that frustrates my mom the most about me--ok, so I frustrate my mom a lot (!)--but she's always trying to figure out/pin down my "style" (ie: things I like/dislike), and I always just say, "I'll know if I like it when I see it!" :)



(ps: mom has awesome taste--especially when it comes to antiques! :)

image source.

Up There

Fascinating.

UP THERE from The Ritual Project.

Take a few minutes to watch. Hand-painted murals are such a work of art! I was in Salt Lake last night, and there are remnants of murals around, but you have to really pay attention to find them--and look up! Enjoy.

via Rifle Paper Co Blog.

AC Warehouse Sale!

American Crafts' annual Warehouse Sale starts this Friday! Albums, Thickers, Paper, Ribbon, Gift Wrap, Embellishments, Stickers and more...tons of stuff at super amazing prices! Make sure to stop by!

Happy Saturday Night

via Your Great Aunt Mary tumblr.

I'm participating in two swaps this year: an ornament swap and an Christmas card swap! I just got the list of people I'll be swapping xmas cards with and looking through all their blogs/sites...holy amazing fun blogs! I always get excited when I find a new blog/tumblr/inspiration site/pinterest site/flickr that I fall in love with--there is sooo much on the web, it's impossible to see everything!

On an unrelated note, the BYU/Utah game came to a disappointing end. Boo.

Happy Saturday night :)

Headed to...

• 4th largest city in the U.S. of A.

• population: 2.3 million peeps

• 6th largest metropolitan area

• classified as "humid subtropical" and known as "the most air-conditioned place on earth"

• international headquarters of ConocoPhillips

• 3rd largest skyline in North America, one of the top 10 in the world

• Residents eat out more in this city than in any other US city--with more than 11,000 restaurants

• the 17-block theater district is second only to NYC

...any guesses where? I'm trying to pack and get things together for a super quick trip to Houston where I'll meet up with my mom and head to a quilt show! Slightly excited! Yay for weekend trips!

Any MUST DO'S while in Houston for 48 hours??

Roomies!

Laundry Basket • The Fly • Fortune Teller • Goldie Locks

Halloween 2010 has come and gone...thank goodness! :) I'm ready for the holidays!

We hosted a fun Halloween party on Saturday night with a bunch of friends, complete with homemade root beer and a cutesy, very "DIY" photo booth. Finished the night by heading to the bowling lanes--I think this was the first time in a loooong time that I didn't break 100! (I got 99. Boo.)

Happy first day of November!

Ornament Swap!

Just signed up to participate in an ornament swap! I have no idea what I'm going to do, but I'm excited!

Click here for more information about this fun swap.

First Snow

I've had a to-do list that's about a bazillion miles long, but every time I sit down complete a task, something distracts me (surprise!) and I end up never crossing anything off. Tonight I was totally distracted by the snow! My roomie, Katie, and I wrapped up in blankets and went for a walk to commemorate the first snowfall, and it ended up in a snowball fight...I'm sure the first of many for the season!

Confession

Get ready for a huge (read: UGE) secret.

I'm terrified of drawing. You know, the sit down and draw-a-picture-of-something-or-someone kind of drawing. I jumped through a lot of hoops while I was in school to get permission to only take one drawing class. I think I ended up with a very generous B- in my Drawing 1 class from a very gracious professor and a lot of prayers! I literally get quite anxious thinking about "drawing."

But doodling? I'm totally there! I don't consider myself great at it, but I can hold my own. I practice my doodling skills daily. The other night when I was at my sister's house and Claire pulled out the paper and crayons, I knew I'd be in good company. I like doodling with Claire because in her (almost!) two year old imagination, she can figure out what it is that I'm attempting to draw. My favorite thing I drew that night was the "owl dressed as BATMAN"...and my favorite thing my sister drew was the pelican! See if you can spot them; they're pretty tender.

I had forgotten about doodling with Claire until today when I was flipping through some pics on my phone. Heaven bless the person who came up with a phone + camera...I use it all the time! Seeing these pictures totally made me laugh. I love my little doodle buddy and I'm glad that she doesn't know what fine art is. :)

This...

{image via Once Wed.}

...is the kind of weekend I was hoping for, but instead the clouds poured rain and the winds blew. We had an intense rain and wind storm (with the s-word* mixed in) last night. I really hope to get at least one more classic fall weekend in before the snow sets in for the next four-plus months. Without a doubt, fall is my (current) favorite season!

*snow

Framed.

Yup. Framed and on my desk. I can't stop looking at this little cutie-patootie!

On Saturday, I tricked my sister into packing the kids up and heading up the canyon to take some pics. I'm glad she humored me...it was nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful fall colors. Claire (in typical fashion) couldn't sit still for more than two seconds, so we only got a handful of pictures, but they turned out pretty cute!




Claire + rocks + water = LOVE. She love, love, loves her rocks, and throwing rocks in water is even better! Claire would pick up a little rock and throw it in the river followed with "where dit goooo?"


She also discovered how much fun it is to gather leaves and throw them up and laugh uncontrollably as they fall!


Bubba (as Claire now refers to him) in all his cuteness sat and watched us run around chasing Claire for an hour! He's such a good little guy...we sometimes forget he's even around because he never makes a sound!


Another trip up the canyon is planned for this weekend...the leaves are almost done turning, but it's still so beautiful. I love fall!!

"Here's a good one. Another good one."

Another cutesie video. Love this little girl. Happy Tuesday night.

via Serendipity Factory.

Made me smile :)

via Love. Obsess. Inspire....this blog comes highly recommended :)

Green

What color are you? Take this little quiz to find out!
Green. Love, love, love green! All of us girls in my family have a dish collection and my collection is the Anchor Hocking Forest Green Charm collection. We pulled the dishes out when I was home last week and used them for Sunday dinner, and I think I fell even more in love with them! (I'm picturing my mom laughing as she reads this!) Most of the dishes are square and are super simple, just the way I like 'em.

Speaking of home, I'm kind of glad I'm not home right now. My poor family is dealing with a mouse problem right now. I had my first experience with trapping a mouse while I was home (and let Dad have the honors of moving the mouse outside!), and it's not something I want to experience again! The last two messages I've gotten from my sister have had to do with the mouse problem. I just like hearing about the problem from a safe distance! If you have any advice on dealing with this kind of problem, I'm sure they're open to any suggestions! :)

quiz via How About Orange (this blog comes highly recommended!)

New Collection!

I've seen lots of walls with letters, but I LOVE this wall with the alphabet!
I have a new collection to start on! :)

via justbesplenid tumblr...via Lismon Studios. Just spent a few several minutes browsing their portfolio...gorgeous work!

mmm...

Thinking about making these this afternoon...
via ming makes cupcakes.

I shouldn't have done this, but I clicked over to the "cookies" tab...now I kind of want to make these:via here.

{click on the images to see larger}

Weekend...

Sniffle. Clean. Breakfast with Dad! Conference. Move furniture. Cough, cough. Watch more Conference here. Clean room while watching Conference. Get ready for day (at 5:00 pm). Sniffle. Cough. Head out to Deseret Book with roomies and dinner. Come home, take Nyquil. Bed at 8:30.

Airport run at 6:00. Return rental truck. (More on that later.) Breakfast...german pancakes! Finish cleaning-slash-organizing-slash-get rid of more stuff. More Conference. Cough. Cough. Dayquil this time! A little more Conference. Sniffle. Sniffle.

It's been a crazy weekend, but so, so good. Saturday morning Conference session was just what I need. President Uchtdorf quoted Leonardo da Vinci, "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Watch here. "What does this have to do with flying an airplane? Well, let me tell you..." Classic.

Currently missing this little lady:

(us flying to St Louis...she LOVED looking at all the airplanes!)

Last week I took Claire with me as I flew home to St Louis for the weekend. We had a little mini family get-together for mom's (50th!) birthday and little Caleb's baby blessing. It worked out for me to fly home a little earlier than everyone else, and because Claire is still under two, she got to come with me! She was perfect while we were in the air, but it was at our layover in Denver that she had her inevitable meltdown. We (barely) survived the meltdown and I might have thought about leaving the kid in Denver...just kidding!! (I love that little girl a little *too* much!) I have so much more respect for parents flying with little kiddos!...it's hard! Claire (oh...and her mom and brother) won't be back in Provo for two weeks, and I'm going crazy with out them here. I'm hoping the next two weeks go fast.

And here's to hoping this little sickie will feel better. Soon.

Flower: Fail

Funny story. I went by (unnamed) store to pick up some flowers for a friend's birthday this afternoon. I bought a dozen roses, got them home and unwrapped and ready to go in a vase. I picked the first rose up, and the whole flower part falls to the ground. (I have the stem in my hand still.) I get slightly frustrated. (Insert: roommate Brittany is in the living room wondering what I'm grumbling about in the kitchen.) Pick up 2nd flower, and it's fine, so I put it in the vase. The next three roses that I pick up all fall to the ground...it was as if the florist had cut the heads of the flowers off and shoved them back in with the rest of the bouquet, hoping no one would notice! Grrrr...so not cool. But then I counted the number of roses...there weren't even a dozen roses! There were only 11! This leads me to believe that there were probably originally five broken flowers in the bouquet, but one escaped. Not only was I gypped by getting flowers that were, you could say, "pre-cut," but there weren't even 12! Oh well :) I should've gotten a pic of the chopped flowers! Dangit.

Short work week this week! Woo-hoo! Headed home on Wednesday morning for a little birthday celebration for mom! #50! I won't be flying solo...I'll have Claire with me! I've flown with just her before, but she wasn't so squirmy, so I'm kind of anxious about this flight and hoping it won't be a packed plane!

Oh, and speaking of work...

This morning at our weekly meeting, we played our traditional get-to-know you game, as we had a new designer recently start on the team. Everyone goes around the table and puts a "get-to-know-you" type question on the board. One of the questions was something like, "If you weren't working here, what would you be doing instead?" (Something not art-related.) I said I'd want to be one of those undercover/secret shoppers that goes to stores and rates stores on their performance. Doesn't that sound fun? I thought so.

Happy Monday :)

I ♥ the D.I.

And this would be why:
Where else in the world can you buy a tanning bed and a suitcase, furniture, electronics, art, shoes and books all in the same place? You never know what to expect...it's always a surprise! I love the D.I.

Stairs.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about this home I'll someday have...sigh.

{Side Note: I've secretly been logging ideas away already over on my inspiration blog. I guess it's not so secret, but I just don't talk about it too often. Why? Because I don't want to feel this weird pressure to update it on some sort of consistent basis. (Ever feel like you're required to blog? I do. And I hate feeling pressure to do that extra little thing everyday. Like brushing my teeth, making my bed, you know what I mean, right?) Anyways...that little blog has a lot of fun things I've collected from lots of different places. Everything's categorized, so when I want to be inspired by jewelry, home interiors, party ideas, photography, design, etc, I can just click over to that blog. I'm kind of secretly in LOVE with that little blog of mine...anyways...}

Stairs. Love, love, love me some unique stairs. Just a few to be inspired by:




Those numbers...I'm kind of digging them. They seem like something you could change if you got tired of seeing them. I think I'd end up counting each step in my head as I went up and down them!




I love all the dishes that lead you up the stairs! Love.

(all pics can be referenced by clicking here and you'll be directed to the source.)

I want.

I want a house of my own. Perhaps this one??


I'm thinking I'll start posting things on this little blog of mine things I want in my (someday in the distant future) house home.

This house was featured on mint today...so much charm! So much character! Love it all. A lot of work? Of course. That's how I like 'em!


Aren't those windows a-maz-ing?! So in love.


And don't forget the stairs. My favorite thing in the whole house.


Someday. Someday.

Photos via Mint.

so pretty!

Must read daily blog: design*sponge. Love it (and have loved it!) for several years now! Do yourself a favor and check it out. Daily inspiration ranging from DIY projects, business tips, recipes, city guides, before & afters and more!

I loved this post from last week...another reminder that fall is soon approaching! Beautiful, rich colors...
The pictures of the tomatoes reminded me of my sister's (once) lovely garden. In short, it got overtaken by thousands of these in a matter of days. (Click through your own risk.) At first, I thought (being the sweet, older sister that I am) that I'd go over and help her out with the mess, but after learning that the best and most effective way to take care of these critters is to swat them off the plants and then squash them, I thought, "I'm sure glad Katie has a husband!" :) If anyone has a better solution to taking care of those bugs, let me know...or let Katie know...or her husband, Joe, know...

pictures via design*sponge.

Almost here...

Fall, that is.
Spent the afternoon over at the sister's house with Claire and Caleb...I just can't get enough of those kids! Claire and I read her current favorite book (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?) on the grass under this most amazing tree! It's just a little tree, and I've always thought it didn't stand much of a chance, but when you get down and look up through it's branches and leaves, it's pretty amazing! The one branch fades from green to bright red. So beautiful!

This weekend to do list includes going on a drive up Provo Canyon. Must. Do.

Saturday Morning

Spent the morning over at the Brewer home...mom packed up and headed back to St. Louis after being here for 3 weeks. Sad morning. (But we'll all be home in a few weeks for mom's birthday!)

Caleb is excited to watch his first BYU Cougar football game--he even dressed up for the occasion!


He's such a cutie-patootie! Claire is still working on loving her little brother, but I have a feeling these two are going to be the best of friends!




Grammie realized a couple days ago that she still didn't have any pics of her and Caleb, so we had to fix that!


This is what we look like on Saturday mornings, sans makeup and crazy hair...yikes. (But I secretly love this pic.) (We somehow end up taking pics like this kind of often...like this one.)


As mom was getting all packed up and ready to head to the airport, Claire decided to be a little sneaky and try hitching a ride to the airport...


Claire's plan didn't work, and she was quite upset when we pulled her off the car! She threw a little (ok...bigger than little...) tantrum when she realized that grammie was gone. She kept looking in the garage wondering if she was going to come back. It's a good thing we're going to visit soon!

(ps...my favorite part of the pic above is that you can see Claire's little belly button in the reflection! haha)

Happy Friday

Dear Mom,

Thanks so much...I needed that :) It made my whole week that much better!


Happy looooong weekend!

*me

my o my...a GIVEAWAY!

'Member how I've been so awesome at blogging this summer?? Oh, yeah...

Last month we had a fun creative activity at work...screen printing! All of us creative peeps designed a little something and then over two days, we headed over to one of my co worker's houses and printed the afternoon away! It's always nice to get a little 'creative break' from work :)

I printed this little ditty up on some shirts and some AC textured cardstock:


Want one?? Leave a comment, and I'll select a random commenter on Monday (because Monday's a holiday and that'd be fun to have a winner on a holiday, right?)...and I'll drop a poster in the mail to you (and maybe even with a little something extra :) Just be sure to tell me in your comment if you're sad to see summer end or if you're happy to see fall coming. Deal?

I'll answer first: I drove with a friend up the canyon yesterday afternoon, and the air was slightly crisp and so refreshing. Yes, I'm just a *little* excited for fall to be here!

Kittens! Inspired by...Kittens!

I've probably single-handedly watched this 9,280,373 of the 9,280,374 times it's been viewed. Watch it at least twice...with every view, it gets funnier! (Right mom???)

I think part of the reason I think it's funny, is because I can see my niece, Claire, making a video like this in about 3 years from now!

I think...

...they just might be related.


(the picture of Claire--if you can figure out which one she is--was taken by Katharine.)

Those Brewer kiddos...just can't get enough of them! Claire is learning and trying to be so gentle with her little brother and wants to cuddle right up next to him. Caleb couldn't be a cuter lil' guy!

...and let your natural sweetness shine through!

My sister in law, Holly, posted this...it's too funny not to share. Enjoy :)

Sister & Brother

Claire is soo in love and can't keep her eyes off Caleb! When she's not staring the baby down, she's playing on the jungle gym...I mean hospital stuff...and loving life! :)

Welcome Baby Caleb!

Welcome to the world, little Caleb :)

Baby Brewer Updates :)

6:00 pm - Katie's toes are blue for Baby Brewer! He'll be here soon :)

6:07 - Baby weight guesses:
Joe: 8lbs 10oz
Me: 8lbs 2oz
Mom: 7lbs 7 oz
Katie: 9lbs 4 oz

6:14 - Dr's here! He's on his way!

6:20 - Baby's here!!!! He's a big boy with a high squeal! We can't stop laughing--his little cry is so cute!

Official Weight: 8lbs 10oz...Joe was right!
Length: 20"

Home!

Is it already time to head back to Utah?? It's been so nice being here...

2 Down...

...only 11 more to go! These frames just don't want to stay up! These two frames fell on a customer...oops!


After dinner tonight, everyone headed back to downtown Chicago, but I took a car back to the hotel. My trusty GPS took me a different route back to the hotel, and I started getting a little nervous that my GPS wasn't so trusty after all--I somehow ended up on a toll road and in a neighborhood that was totally unfamiliar! As I continued on my way, I saw a gold something-or-other that was glistening in the setting sun, and as I got closer, I realized that I was just down the street from the Chicago Temple! I had heard that our hotel was down the road from the temple, so it was such a relief to find it, knowing that my hotel was just a few more blocks away.

One more day of CHA and then down to St Louis! Woo hoo!

A Little Cover Up...

Oh goodness...what's a tradeshow without at least a little disaster??

Today was setup day for CHA! We got things done pretty quickly and things were going smoothly...until I pulled the pebbles sign out of its box. See the two frames in the upper right corner of the pebbles sign? They're covering up a huge crack. With so few resources and not much time on our hands, we did what we could with what we had! The rest of the booth turned out cute...more pics to follow!


We headed down to Navy Pier after setup and walked around downtown Chicago for a little while. Ate some good food at Bubba Gump's and saw a little of where Transformers 3 is being filmed. Became friends with some of the security guards who were keeping people out of the filming area.