Craft # 3 - Envelopes (and cards)

This month I was inspired to make my own envelopes complete with liners and because I needed to put something into the envelopes, I ended up making cards too. Why envelopes? I have no idea, but I was motivated so I made them.

I started by buying some fancy paper and chose different colors and patterns for the envelope vs. liner, both with standard weight paper. Using an envelope that I had dismantled, I traced the shape onto my desired envelope paper and cut it out. Then I folded the paper to envelope form.

Next I created my liner template. To be honest, this was kind of a crapshoot. I made my liner slightly smaller than the flap, traced it on the liner paper, cut it out, inserted it into the envelope and folded the envelope flap over the liner. Then I applied glue to the liner only where it touched the envelope flap and pressed to adhere. I also sealed the bottom flaps of the envelope. (For glue, I used a traditional glue stick.)

The cards? Well… those started out a bit rockier. I went into this with a plan to make the envelopes, but the cards came as an after thought. The first envelope I made was for my friend Krystle. I knew I wanted to make them in her wedding colors, black & white damask and fushia. I had a plan for her card, but after I made the envelope, I took a break from her project and moved on to my sister in law. Her birthday is also in March and her card needed to get in the mail - so I finished her envelope and made the card on the spot. Judge for yourself, but I know it's ugly.

After the ugly card, I knew I needed to invest more time to make this project. And since I was working on these on a week night, I waited until the weekend to do the rest. By the time Saturday rolled around I had given my card dilemma more thought and had something in mind for the others. Since I had left off with Krystle's card, I finished that one first.

The creative process for the rest of the envelopes, liners and cards went very smoothly.

In all I made 7 envelope/liner/card combos. I mailed 3, hand delivered 3 and hid one. (The one not in the photo is my sister-in-law's card. As I mentioned, that one had to get in the mail!)

My favorite "delivery" was the card for my husband. He is out of town again this week. Being the sneaky wife I am, I hid the card in his packed pajama shorts for him to find when he got to his hotel. From the sounds of the text he sent after the card's discovery, it made him happy which, in turn, made my night.

I already have a craft in mind for April... so look for that soon!!

March Craft

It's done and it's coming!! I have a few loose ends to tie up and then I will post about it! Look for the update Sunday; Saturday if I'm feeling efficient.

In the mean time, here is something to tide you over...

Dinner for One

Today after work I wanted an easy dinner idea, ideally featuring tilapia. I had taken some tilapia out of the freezer yesterday, hoping to make it later this week but when my dinner plans for tonight changed, tilapia was back in the mix.

So I headed to google in search of a tasty, fast and simple recipe. I ended up making a number of modifications to the original recipe, Easy Tilapia from All Recipes.com, so for simplicity's sake only my version is below.

Easy Tilapia
Ingredients
6 oz. Tilapia (for me, this was two fillets)
Cooking Spray (or olive oil)
1/4 t. Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper, to taste
1/2 lemon
1/2 c. water
1 c. cherry tomatoes
3 T. capers
1 c. mushrooms
1 c. asparagus (trimmed and cut into 1" pieces)

Directions:
1. Spray a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Place fillets in skillet and season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Lightly sprinkle lemon juice over fillets. Cook for 3 minutes per side, or until fish flakes with fork. Flip fillet and sprinkle with more pepper and garlic powder. When both sides have cooked, transfer fillets to a plate and keep warm.
2. Add water, remaining juice from 1/2 lemon, tomatoes, mushrooms and capers to the pan. Increase heat to medium-high. Gently smash the cherry tomatoes with a spatula. Cook for 4 minutes.
3. Add fillets back to the skillet along with the asparagus. Cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until asparagus is tender. Transfer fillets, mushrooms, tomatoes and asparagus back to the plate.
4. Turn heat up to high to reduce sauce, takes ~2 minutes.
5. Pour sauce over the fillets. Serve immediately.

Yum! This was super flavorful and very fast. According to the official recipe, both prep and cooking time take 15 minutes each, but I felt like this was on my plate faster than that.

*If you are looking for a single skillet dish, this recipe fits the bill. You do have to transfer it out of the skillet to a plate, but later I just used that one as my dinner plate. After all, I was the only one eating. :)

Ranunculus Experiment

This weekend I decided to experiment with the color settings on my camera by taking photos of the Ranunculus we bought.

I took four photos with four different settings. What do you think? Can you see a difference?

Red River Flooding

Earlier today my friend Jenn, touched by the Red River Valley flooding news stories, decided she needed to do something to help. A couple of years ago she helped to clean-up flooding in Southern Minnesota and witnessed first-hand the destruction floods can cause. So when she read about the Red River Valley flood, she was determined to help in the prevention efforts before the flood causes unnecessary damage.

She contacted the volunteer line, coordinated a group to go with her, wrapped up her work as quickly as possible, printed driving directions and is headed to Fargo as I type this. It is truly amazing how touched she was and motivated to help.

Honestly, I have heard about people like her. The people who are motivated to help and make a difference, but I'm not sure I've known anyone to do this before. She doesn't have any ties to Fargo, no family or back stories. She just read the news articles and figured it was close enough to us that she could make an impact. (Fargo is 4 hours away).

It was remarkable to see the passion and determination in her eyes. But even more so, was the fact that she wanted to drop everything to help. Jenn's great like that. Inspirational.

Almost every spring it seems the Red River runs the risk of flooding. But this year is the worst so far - we had a very cold winter, lots of snow and last week had very warm weather followed by rain. The melting snow and rain had no where to go, because the grounds is still frozen. Plus, the Red River runs north, which is unusual; as the snow melts, the run-off and ice chunks flow toward waters that may still be frozen.

This year the river is expected to crest at 43' by Saturday evening; the main dike protecting the city is also 43'. As of 2:15p, the river has swelled to 40.69 feet -- more than 22 feet above flood stage and inches more than the previous high water mark of 40.1 feet set in 1897.

Do you want fries with that shake?

Nope, not another post about fast food or shamrock shakes.

I taught Malin to shake on command!! For whatever reason, I think "shake" is one of the funnest tricks a dog can know. Since poor little Malin is a doggie-school dropout, he's never learned how to shake. (It's my fault - it was spring, the weather was nice and I got tired of going to classes. So we quit and have never been back.)

Since Rich was out of town, I took photos to document his learning process.

Update 3/26/09: Rich is home and Malin is still able to perform his new trick! Yea!!

Must Haves

At book club on Sunday one of the girls introduced to me a product she carries in her purse. After she so nicely let me try it out, it was decided. I needed it. Had it not been 8p on a Sunday, I would have gone to the mall right then and there and bought one. Instead I had to wait all day Monday until after work before I could go buy one of my very own. The must-have? Brush on cuticle oil in a tube from Sephora. (It comes with a cap, but I took it off for the photo.)

After I sampled it on my own fingers my eyes were opened. This was exactly what my hands needed!! I wish I was kidding, but apparently my cuticles were in dire need of attention and cuticle oil was the cure. Plus, maybe now I should paint my own nails and use this oil to keep my hands looking fresh. (Apply cuticle oil. Your hands will thank you!) HUGE benefit of this vs. cuticle cream: no messy fingers.

Soon after the same girl pulled out and applied Stila lip glaze. Now this I have had before and LOVED! The visual reminder made me realize I should have this too! And so this was my second must-have.

And by the way, you should know that I went to two Sephora locations because the first place I went to didn't carry the cuticle oil. Clearly I could not possibly live another moment without these precious items by my side and in my purse!

Oh yeah, and Rich is out of town this week.

Book Club: March Book

I am not an avid reader however in an attempt to read more I joined a book club last August. The book club contains a few friends and then a lot of others I hadn't met. It's been really fun to get to know more everyone and expand my circle.

Thus far I have attended all monthly meetings and in all but one instance, have read the book. (The book I didn't finish in time was The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao; I have since read it.)

We select our books two months in advance. In January I presented the list of book suggestions for March and Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell was chosen. My brother loaned me a copy several years ago and I had never read it. So I was pretty excited when the book picked was one I already had on hand. Plus, I think my brother was pumped he would finally get his copy back.
The book is based George Orwell's descent into poverty while living in Paris and London. For a nice summary, check out Wikipedia.

I thought it was a good read with an interesting perspective. I certainly walked away with an altered view of restaurants and vagrants. Also, I learned that a sanatorium does not equal an insane asylum (Whoops! I thought they were synonymous…). Now I just need to give my brother his copy back and we can chat about it.

*Also, I just got invited to a different book club. It is all ladies, wives or friends of Rich's from college. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with two books a month, but it should be fun!

What's in a name?

I have been struggling for the last few days to come up with a new URL for this blog. I wasn't really comfortable with it being my name. I doubt anyone would find this and google me, but it still made me nervous. So, I have a new name. Sorry for not saying anything in advance. I hope you can still remember the path...

Sushi Challenge 2009 (NCAA Bracket time...)

For four years Rich and I have held a NCAA bracket pool between the two of us; winner gets a sushi dinner, loser pays for it. And for the last four years I have won. So this year, like all of the others before - we filled out our brackets.

From the moment teams are announced, Rich does tons of research on the 65 teams (well, he probably doesn't spend much time on the play in teams), but he stays up all hours, planning and plotting where the teams should fall within his bracket. I, on the other hand, usually get around to looking at my bracket Wednesday night (last year early Thursday morning) and get my selections in.

Rich and I took off both Thursday and Friday from work so we could watch the games; our own mini-staycation. We don't plan on doing much, stopping at a few local sports bars, meeting up with friends and watching the games. It should be fun!!

Kettlebell Class I

Three years ago a work friend told me about kettlebells as an exercise routine. Her cousin was an instructor and my friend was starting to get into it. She certainly peaked my curiosity and ever since I have wanted to try it. Well, that opportunity just presented itself. My work sent an email a few weeks ago about offering kettlebell classes as part of their fitness center. I signed up and today was my first day of class.

Here's some background: Kettlebells looks like a cannon ball with a handle. From what I understand they were developed in Russia as part of militia training. The workouts involve swinging the bell and are intended to increase strength, endurance, agility and balance. All in all it ends up to be a simultaneous cardio and strength-training workout.

An instructor from Southside Kettlebells comes to lead our class. Our instructor, Joe, is second from the right in the photo on their website. At the close of class 1 of 8, he seems super nice and helpful. My form is far from correct and he walked me through how to improve. The class was fun, even though half-way through I wanted to know how much longer we had left. Right now I'm just a little sore, but I'm excited for next week.

Update 3/20/09: I am a LOT sore!! I feel like I have to swing my body to get my legs to move. I'm still looking forward to the next class, but really hope my muscles heal first.

The tale of two Irish Soda Breads...

Our friends invited us over to their house Tuesday night for a traditional Irish dinner. I don't think I had ever had Irish food. Irish Drink: Guinness, Harp, Cider, Bailey's, Jameson. Yes. Irish Food? Not sure. Well, I've had potatoes, but does that really count?

With such a fun invite, I thought I should bring something Irish to share. So... I started thinking. I needed something quick and universal. Irish Soda Bread was the first thing that popped into my mind, and while I've never had it nor have I tasted it, I went with it. Lesson learned: Irish soda bread is very fast and very easy!!

I searched for recipes online and found two types: sweet and savory. I didn't have time to make a decision, so I just went with both and ran to the grocery store to pick up ingredients. Fast forward an hour, the bread was done and we were on our way to the party.

We had a great time! Our hosts had prepared corned beef, cabbage, mushrooms, green mashed potatoes (mashed w/ leeks, spinach for the green color), leek gravy. The beverage of choice for the evening: Guinness. The food was terrific and such a fun idea!! A dinner party on a weeknight = FUN!! People seemed to dig the bread too, so that was good. I hope this becomes an annual event...

On to the recipes -

Sweet: Irish Soda Bread

Source: The Kitchn

Ingredients

3 c. flour (I used whole wheat flour)

1 c. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

3 T. caraway seeds

1 box (15 oz.) golden raisins (I only bought one box, so this was decreased to 1 cup)

3/4 c. canola oil (or vegetable oil)

1 2/3 c. buttermilk

1 large egg

2 T. butter, melted

Coarse or raw sugar for sprinkling over top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch cake pan or skillet that is at least 2 1/2 inches deep.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and caraway seeds.

4. Stir in the raisins until they are well-coated with the flour mixture.

5. Add the oil to the flour mixture and stir until it is well incorporated.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg.

7. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well. Your batter should be quite wet.
8. Pour the batter into your prepared pan.

9. Using a sharp knife, cut a deep x in the batter. Then drizzle the melted butter over the top (using a pastry brush, if necessary, to distribute it evenly—it might pool up a little, but it will form a nice crust in the oven).

10. Sprinkle generously with coarse sugar (I used ~1 T.)

11. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown and completely set. Let cool for ten minutes or so before turning it out of the pan. Delicious while warm!*

Makes one 9-inch round loaf (Mine made more; I recommend you fill the 9" pan 3/4 full and then put the extra batter into cupcake tins)

Notes: This bread didn't rise as much as the savory version, you can tell with the aerial and side view photos. It may have been too wet of a batter or how full the pan was. While everyone thought the savory version was good, the resounding response was that this one was better. I also heard it compared to cake.

*The sweet version is on the left and shows how it kind of cooked over the pan. I found myself opening the oven door, fork in hand, and eating the bread right from the oven. Delicious while warm might be an understatement...

Savory: Irish Soda Bread
Source: Simply Recipes

Ingredients

4 to 4 1/2 c. flour (I used 4 c. whole wheat flour)
2 T. sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 Tbsp butter
1 cup raisins
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
I added 3T. caraway seeds to the batter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Sift together 4 cups of flour, the sugar, salt, and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.
3. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, work butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal, then stir in raisins.
4. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add beaten egg and buttermilk to well and mix in with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir.

5. Dust hands with a little flour, then gently knead dough in the bowl just long enough to form a rough ball. If the dough is too sticky to work with, add in some more flour. Do not over knead! Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into a round loaf.
6. Transfer dough to a large, lightly greased cast-iron skillet or a baking sheet. Using a serrated knife, score top of dough about 1/2'' deep in an "X" shape.

7. Transfer to oven and bake until bread is golden and bottom sounds hollow when tapped with a knife, about 35-45 minutes. (If you use a cast iron pan, it may take a little longer as it takes longer for the pan to heat up than a baking sheet.)

8. Check for doneness also by inserting a long, thin skewer into the center. If it comes out clean, it's done. Transfer bread to a rack to let cool briefly. Serve bread warm, at room temperature, or sliced and toasted.

Makes 1 loaf

Notes: This dough was a lot drier in consistency versus the sweet version, but it kept the shape and rose better. It also seemed more dense , but not in a bad way. It could have been the difference in sweetness, but I thought it was more bread vs. cake like.

Aerial vs Side view of the Finished products
(L to R, Sweet then Savory)

I ♣ Shamrock Shakes

Yesterday Rich and I picked up Mickey D's on our way to my parent's house. We ordered our usual menu items and then Rich threw in a small Shamrock Shake to share. Yumm!!!

Growing up, every Friday my mom would clean the house (sweep, mop, vacuum) and my brother and I would get a Happy Meal. I always looked forward to March when I could order a Shamrock Shake too.

Back to yesterday: I did share, but barely. My sip turned into a slurp which turned into an empty shake cup. But it was delicious. creamy. minty. goodness.

*When my personal laptop is back up and running, I will insert my intended club symbol in the title... but until then trust me that's what the square is supposed to be.

I ♥ our steamer

There are not a ton of things Rich and I have disagreed on during our relationship, however gift registry was one of them. Basically it boiled down to one thing: Rich wanted things that I didn't, and I told him. (He may not have wanted some of the things I wanted, but he still remains tight lipped about that).

One of the things Rich wanted was a commercial steamer. We rarely iron, so I couldn't see a reason we needed a steamer. I have since been convinced otherwise.

Back in November my mom and I took a day off work and redecorated our kitchen. We painted the walls a shade of green and bought all new window treatments. At the time, my mom not only tried ironing the curtains to remove the creases, but she also tried dampening then ironing them to no avail. They still remained very much wrinkled. It wasn't until this weekend that I decided to break out our steamer and give that a whirl.

Why I waited this long is beyond me, but it worked!! Our kitchen drapery is now wrinkle free!!

Taste of the Timberwolves

I was invited to the 14th Annual Taste of the Timberwolves held Thursday night. It is a fundraiser benefiting the FastBreak Foundation, a Timberwolves community outreach and charity organization supporting local youth programs.

Among other guests, my mom, Aunt Sue, Uncle Russ, Aunt Colleen, Cousins Anna, Brian (x2) and Danielle were in attendance. The evening started with a silent auction and a variety of food stands representing local restaurants. At each stand a member of the Timberwolves team dished out delectable, gourmet food.

Here are some pictures from our night.

My mom, Sue, Russ and Colleen arrived before I did and staked out a cocktail table where we parked it for the night. Here they are holding down the fort. (The soup in the foreground is a wild rice soup w/ duck confit -- YUM!)


We all took turns filling our plates and holding the table (and purses). In this photo it must be my and Danielle's turn on guard...


After our bellies were full we headed into the other room, where my cousin Brian and Mike Miller hosted a very fun, super hilarious version of Family Feud where the players split into two teams and played each other, the Love Bunch vs. the Brooklyn (I can't remember the second word of their team; it started with the letter B).


At one point The Love Bunch had a chance to steal the above survey question and responded with "Elephant." It got a lot of laughs and while elephants are supposed to have a good memory, 5 of the people surveyed responded with Fox.


I really wanted to meet Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen. So, Danielle coordinated this picture with Mad Dog, Danielle, me and Brian.


I took this picture in front of the official "2009 Taste of the Timberwolves" backdrop; they posed like a bunch of celebrities.


As a group we discovered a love for Moscato wine (a SUPER sweet, sparkling wine). The photo above is the type they served samples of at the event: Primadonna Virgin Moscato d'Asti, distributed by Domace Vino. I found this bottle at France 44.

Last thing - there was one Family Feud question that stumped me. So I've decided to post it here - if you are interested, feel free to play along. Leave your guesses as a comment. I'll let you know correct responses Tuesday Thursday. (This will hopefully allow a few more people to play...)

We surveyed 100 people and asked them to name a food that you boil in a big pot.
????..................28
????..................20
????..................13
????....................7
????....................7
????....................6
????....................5


Survey says...

Egg Hunt

This post is 100% dedicated to my brother.

Eric -
I was at Target yesterday and came across these Egg Hunt kits. Can you believe they make (and sell) these? The one on the left comes with chalk. Apparently you can write on the green and black eggs. But the one on the right has a glow-in-the-dark stripe and comes with two LED flashlights.

Remember how much fun we used to have hiding plastic eggs in the weeks leading up to Easter? We found some mad-crazy spots throughout the house and were true egg-finding experts! Think how cool it would have been to hunt for eggs in the dark! That would have been an added challenge.

I always thought it was funny that we would work so hard and hone our skills and then Easter would come and Mom the Easter Bunny would put the eggs in front of a picture frame or on top of the table. The eggs were fully exposed to plain view. I guess she it didn't want to risk us not finding them...

Anyhow, I thought of you when I saw these and hope you think they are as neat as I did!
Love,
Your big sis

It's ELECTRIFYING!

You may have noticed my posts have been retroactive this week. I've been having a bit of laptop trouble for the last week or so.

First our home laptop struggled to recognize when it was connected to outlet. Then on Sunday, the laptop started crackling. CRACKLING!! (Aren't you scared? Aren't you worried about a FIRE HAZARD?!? Well... I was!) I checked the power cord and sure enough, a frayed wire was poking out. (Fire Hazard concern confirmed, Electrocution concern activated!!) The computer was instantly shut down and unplugged.

Thankfully our laptop is only 2 years old and we had bought a 3 year coverage plan. So I brought the cord into Best Buy on Monday and ordered a new power cord; it will take 9-12 business days before it arrives.

The laptop has also been struggling to hold it's battery charge, so I need to bring the computer in for that. (Maybe this weekend?) This time around I will not keep the laptop plugged in 24/7. I have learned that is not good for battery life!

This is the first time I have ever used a service plan I purchased. In all honesty, I'm kind of excited I have it and will be able to use it and the computer will be back in working order. So I suppose all's well that ends well, but still... I was a little freaked.

Daisies

For years we have had black cubes suspended on a wall in our living room with brightly colored votive holders resting on each cube. We have yet to light those candles and it was recently suggested that we use the votive holders as little vases and set flowers in there instead.

So while at Bachman's I also bought daisies (okay - they are spray mums, but they look like daisies) for our votive holders. I put them together when I got home and I think it is cute. I'm not sure I need to have flowers all of the time, because that would be EXPENSIVE, but it is a fun change.

Here's how they look on the wall, in relation to our furniture.

Unfortunately I took these pictures at 6:00a, so they are a bit dark... but you get the general idea.

I had some extra flowers, so I put some in the bathroom too. (We have shadow boxes hanging on the bathroom wall). The bathroom version looks SUPER cute. The white fits perfectly with our color scheme and appears to stick out a little better, though that may be in part to the lighting. The daisy in the last cube is actually a barrette from a friend's bachelorette party; we had went to see Daisy Head Maisy.

On a side note, I am itching for spring and have seriously considered buying some pansies because they are weather hardy. I realize that they are not that weather hardy, but if I could find them outside of seed form, I might have bought them by now...

Donation update:

3/8- 3 bags (N's clothing - from dresser this time)

Bring your own pot, grow your own...

This weekend my mom, aunt and I went shopping at Bachman's to find some fun stuff for the house.

After looking at african violets and primroses, we happened upon herbs. What a perfect addition to our kitchen!! So we picked out three small herb containers (rosemary, lavender and parsley), went in search of a larger pot to hold them and... VOILA!!

I think they look great! Plus, this is so us to have herbs on hand in the kitchen. I haven't used them yet... but will soon. Hmm... what do you use lavender for... ?

Here is the arial view:

Love. It.

Popcorn Frenzy

My parents gave Rich a tub of popcorn for his birthday in November. (Terrific gift idea!) By the photo you can tell we certainly made a dent and that it was very much appreciated and enjoyed. But now that we've had it for nearly 4 months, it was time to say goodbye.


However, let me say this, the popcorn did not go without a fight!

I don't know what came over me, but when I opened this bad boy up I went to TOWN on the cheese popcorn!! I shoved in handful after handful like a maniac!! At one point I caught myself pacing in the kitchen; I was trying to convince myself to just put some popcorn in a ziploc so I didn't have to cram it in my mouth and could eat at a normal pace. But if I saved some I would have to eat it, so I shouldn't save any (hence the pacing).

It was crazy! After ~15-20 handfuls I wiped my then orange hand on a damp paper towel and threw the dirty towel in with the popcorn. Finally the hold the popcorn had on me was relinquished. I was free (and the popcorn was tossed out)!!
*Just in case you are wondering, while it was almost 4-months old, the popcorn was still delicious!!!

Linen Closet

Several weeks ago, in my Spring Cleaning post, I mentioned that I was going to clean out my linen closet. Well, I didn't get to it that night, but I did do it a while ago and am finally getting around to posting about it.

I had a LOT of stuff crammed into that closet and it was eating up all of my space. So, I went through it and got rid of things and then organized what was left.

Before:


After:

Now it is a usable space again! Yea!!!

*Happy Birthday Sue!*

My purse!!

When I finished assembling my presentation on Tuesday (which by the way, went really well), I unwrapped my purses and immediately put one of them into commission. I'm using the little one right now: "Molly". "Drea" will be used once it's a bit warmer.*
(No, I didn't name my purses; 1154 Lill commemorates their style names with those of their friends and family.)

*There are two photos because Drea is reversible!!!

Project Warm Hearts

At work, I belong to an organization called Project Warm Hearts. Project Warm Hearts coordinates donations and brings together knitters who create hats, mittens, scarves, afghans and other hand-knit items to benefit selected non-profit organizations in the community. In addition, my company matches the value of each donated item and makes a financial contribution to the non-profit organizations who receive the knitted items.

While I haven't done a lot of knitting of late, I did go through my knitting stuff and found a few completed projects I don't really need to hold on to and aren't getting used. So, I brought them in to work and donated them.

Side note: I read an article last week about decluttering. The first step was to "Tear Down the Museum". The author mentioned how she took photographs of her cluttering items, made a scrapbook of her stuff and then got rid of the actual items. This is what I feel I did with my knitted items. While I love them because I made them, other people will find a good use for these (I hope) and I can always look at their photos to remember them by.

Here is another donation update:
2/28- 12 bags/boxes (Extra kitchen items, vases, two comforters, shoes, knick knack stuff)
3/1 - 3 bags (R's clothing)
3/4 - Project Warm Hearts: 1 scarf, 1 pair of leg-warmers, 1 pair of mittens
Previous donations are referenced in Spring Cleaning post.

Purses!!!

Remember the Purse Party I mentioned breifly in the Amazingly Productive Weekend post? Well, the purses (and accessories) are in!! They arrived a few minutes ago via FedEx. I've already sent an email to the rightful owners so they can come claim their goodies!!

I haven't even unwrapped mine yet. I think that will need to be my reward. (I should be assembling a presentation for tomorrow, but have been in and out of meetings today and haven't finished it yet.)

Anyhow, if you don't know about 1154 Lill, you should check it out. They have *super* cute purses. While, I'm not a huge purse-person, I love these. I always tend to struggle when it comes to purses and don't really like what I buy longterm. For these purses, however, you pick the design that fitsw your style and then get to pick from a wide-array of beautiful fabric choices. Fun!

I should get back to that presentation, but for now here's a visual...