Still a whiter shade of pale...

...but I'm having a good hair day!



Matt bought this head band from The Candy Thief for me for Christmas. I love it! I have worn it almost every day since Christmas day!

Another one of my gifts that has come in handy already is this great mug from my mom. Appropriate, no?



I am going to keep things brief today. I *do* want to say that I am so, so, SO thankful that my brother-in-law is out of the hospital. My sister put his x-rays up on her blog. Scary stuff! Secondly, I am also thrilled to be feeling much, much better. Aside from a bitty residual cough, and feeling a bit tired, I think that I am about 95% back to my normal self. HURRAH.

Lastly, I want to wish a very happy birthday to my dad. He is awesome, and I love him SO much. Times infinity.

Christmas 2009 - Wrapping It Up

Hello friends,

It is 6:57 AM as I type this, and I have been awake for almost five hours. The remnants of an evil cold/flu thing are keeping me awake for yet another evening this week. Since I've resigned to getting no sleep, I thought I would be productive and blog. So hello, here I am. Still ill!

It's my sorrow to report that Christmas was much more subdued than previous years, largely due to the aforementioned evil cold/flu thing. I felt so horrible on Christmas Eve Eve that I told Matt that I might have to stay home and miss my parents' annual Christmas Eve party. Those of you who are regular readers of this blog know that I am a bona fide Christmas FA-REAK, so you know that it was BAD.

I pulled myself together though...and Christmas was nice.

Here's Matt, holding all of our handmade goodies for the party.



That's the fruit of the Holiday Handmade Crusade right there!

Watching my dad interact with babies is always a highlight of every family gathering. Here he is playing with my nephew, Aaron, happy as a clam!



Here is one of the few pictures of me from the festivities. Don't I look thrilled to be alive? I love that my sickly pale skin matches the white trim of the Santa hat. Hott, I tell you.



This little guy was a great cheerer upper though. He kept putting bows in his mouth and making the funniest faces. Aaron is SUCH a ham.



Here's my mom doling out goodies to every one. I was pleasantly surprised to receive hand made gifts from both of my brothers this year! Had my sister been able to attend, (more on that later), I know that she would've had hand made prezzies too! It warmed my heart to see my whole family getting into the handmade spirit!



The evening ended with the late arrival of my niece, Cayla, aka Beaner, bringing us exciting news...



She's engaged! Bean will be marrying her long-time boyfriend Scott, a sweet guy and fellow music aficionado. Since my siblings are quite a bit older than me, I became an aunt at a very young age. Bean and I are only five years apart. She is more like a little sister to me than a niece. To see her all aglow with that ring on her finger brought a big lump to my (already sore) throat (thanks a lot Bean, HA). I'm so happy for them both! Such exciting Christmas news!

***

When we got home, I had absolutely no chance of sleeping. My sinuses were completely stopped up, and breathing was crazy difficult. I managed to get in a fitful two hours between 7:00 and 9:00 AM Christmas Day. After that, I woke up and Matt and I exchanged gifts. He gave me all sorts of wonderful things, but I will save that for another post.

***

Later in the day, I checked in with my sister, who had been absent the night before and found out the bad news that my brother in law was in the hospital with a collapsed lung! She said he is going to be fine, but last I knew, he was still in the hospital. Poor guy. On Christmas Day! I feel so terrible for them both. I've anxiously been checking Renee's blog for news of Geoff's return.

***

So that pretty much brings us up to speed. It wasn't all terrible. I am quite grateful for the time I got to share with my husband and family over the past few days, but I am not at all grateful for debilitating flu-ey illnesses and family members in the hospital. Please send some prayers and healthy vibes out into the universe for Renny and Geoff. They need it! Aaaaaand while you are at it, send a few thoughts my way as well, if you would. I'm still choking every five seconds here, so sleep is still eluding me at 7:30 AM. Lovely.

I hope to be back to my usual chipper crafty self the next time we meet! Hope all of your Christmases were lovely! XO!

Advent Day 23 :: Christmas Eve Eve

It's down to the wire folks. My family gathering is tomorrow night. Am I ready? Absolutely not.

But before I go into that, let's look at pretty things that I splurged on this year!

I cannot remember where I saw it, but I found a link to Stephanie Levy's blog, A Studio With A View, a few weeks ago. She's doing a great project this month called the Artist Advent Calendar. Each day of the month, Stephanie invited a different blogger to guest post and share their family's Christmas traditions. Lovely right?

On day 11, these posts caused me to happen upon Samantha Hirst's shop Inklore, at which I indulged in a rare moment of insta-purchasing and bought myself the following:

Three gingerbread ornaments



Gingerbread tea towel



In other news, I am still fantastically ill. Projects have had to be modified, or put on hold all together. My dad is getting toasted pumpkin seeds, instead of pumpkin seed brittle. I just now have the meager strength to whip up pizza dough for my brothers. Neighbors will likely not be getting cookies, and I have nothing for my little niece Isabelle. Don't even get me started on Matt's family, their gifts are all up in the air, but I won't be seeing them tomorrow! Honestly though, I'm not all that stressed about all of that. I am really just hoping that I can breath through my nose tomorrow, and have the ability to speak in a normal tone, so that I can socialize with my family!!!

Okay, I have to keep building my mountain of wadded snotty tissues. Important stuff, dontcha know?

Subtext: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SOMEBODY KILL ME AND RIP OUT MY SINUSES AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Advent Day 22 :: Apparently I Do An Awesome Chevy Chase Impersonation

Ah me,

For some reason the limitations of my Christmas cheer are being tested over and over again this year! My sister told me the other day that I was cursed, but we'll get to that in a moment. My Advent posts have been slim, because I have been trying my darndest to perfect my Chevy Chase impersonation...specifically imitating the iconic role of Clark Griswold in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Every Christmas project I touch this year seems to turn into or involve some sort of disaster.

Chevy Chase Case Study #1 :: The Christmas Cookies

Friday night, I gleefully decided that I was going to bake a family standard, Nova Scotia Shortbread Cookies. I have done this many, many times. The very first step is to soften the butter, and beat in the various dry ingredients. My butter came right out of the fridge, so I decided that it needed to go into the microwave for a bit...so I chopped up an entire pound of butter and popped it into one of my many Pyrex mixing bowls...specifically one of the brown ones pictured here in the back left of this photo:



Can anyone predict what I'm about to write next?

I'll give you a hint. Note the gold motif on the mixing bowl...which I stuck into the microwave.

Well, one would've thought it was Fourth of July in December with all of the sparks that were generated in the mere three seconds before I pulled the microwaves plug and started hyperventilating.

The irony is this: I buy butter wrapped in foil wrappers. Two seconds before all of this went down, I thought to myself, "Oh, good thing I'm unwrapping these sticks to soften them, that would be hilarious!" as I proceeded to throw butter chunks into the bowl with a metal motif on it. Good job!

Luckily, no cookies were harmed, and my apartment did not burn down. Microwave: 1 Sarah: 2, YEAH take that microwave!





***

On Saturday, I went to my family's Christmas party, which was great fun, so much so I forgot to take photos! Every year we do a Yankee Swap, where horrible gifts abound. I opened a box with a large hour glass in it, and announced to the room "Like sands through the hour glass...so are the days of our lives..." much to the bemusement of every soap fan in the room. Luckily I made a power play for a Barnes and Noble gift certificate which I managed to hold on to until the end of the game. Score!

***

Chevy Chase Case Study #2 :: The Gingerbread House

Sunday I went to my sister Renee's house, where I watched her make a gingerbread house for eight hours.



The house was intended for me, but my only contribution was worried looks over Renee's shoulder, and placing the candy to make stained glass windows.



The windows came out beautifully, but sadly the house was a FAIL! This brings us to the point where my sister told me that I was cursed. No matter though, we had a really great time hanging out together all day, and both Matt and I got in some serious puppy cuddle time.



So disasters aside, it was a great weekend. However Monday morning brought a severe case of the sickies my way. I've been sniffling and hacking and rolled into a blanket burrito on my couch for 48 hours. There are gifts to finish, baking to be done, THINGS TO DO, and I am SPENT. I am really hoping to feel better by Christmas Eve, for my family's dinner and gift exchange, because I would hate to be a damper on the evening!!! Send me some healthy vibes peeps!

Advent Day 16 :: Crazy? Or crazy awesome?

I have been wanting to take a picture of this house for weeks, and oh, I am so glad that I did...



Best viewed in all of its glory large here.

The walk to this house tonight afforded me a new level of appreciation for house decorating. Not only is this house using enough electricity to power a small country, but IT PLAYS MUSIC TOO. I especially enjoy the lights programmed to blink in rhythm with said music. The Virgin Mary flashing in turn with the Tasmanian Devil dressed as Santa Claus to a plinky plonky rendition of 'Winter Wonderland' was the real kicker.

I took my pictures like a sly paparazzi photographer and giggled all the way home.

What do you think? Crazy? Or crazy awesome? I'm leaning towards the former!

Advent Day 15 :: Heart Shaped Glasses

Holy triumvirate of style, sweetie dahlings...silk scarves, big earrings and big ass sunglasses!


I bought these the other day to console myself in light of my recent craft FAIL. I am pumped. I have always wanted heart shaped glasses!

Merry Christmas to me! HA!

Advent Day 14 :: The Gory Details

Let me preface this story with the time-line and special circumstances of this project so that you can truly empathize with the bursting into tears action after it's sudden death yesterday.

January 2009 - Had just received Alicia Paulson's Stitched in Time for Christmas 2008, and decided promptly that I would make not one, but two memory game sets for my niece and nephew.

March 2009 - Declared the month of March's Holiday Handmade Crusade Theme "Making a Memory" and think that I have cleverly created motivation for myself to finish the memory game sets. However, I had only just begun. I purchased the inkjet printer photo fabric, chose prints from my stash, and cut out 52 squares to the measurement of four square inches. Keep in mind my rotary blade is dead, and my self healing mat is quite small. These squares, and many to follow were essentially painstakingly measured and cut out, one by one...

September 2009 - After months of hiatus on this project, I cut out the felt squares that were to be sandwiched between the photo fabric, two per game piece, total of 104 pieces of felt...cut out one by one.

October 2009 - Spend many hours uploading and formatting my family photos to the satisfactory size and spacing. Fighting and formatting, fighting and formatting. Finally finished and discovered that my printer has no color ink. Waited to have money to purchase said ink...

November 2009 - I got ink! Printed out inkjet photo fabric, discovered I was one sheet shy of being able to print out my photos. Purchased one additional packet of inkjet photo fabric...

December 2009 - Printed last inkjet sheet of photos, removed all of the backing and ironed the pieces flat. Cut all of the photos out, 52 in all, one by one.

Yesterday - Against my better judgement, I followed the directions in the book to add a dab of fabric glue between each layer to keep the layers in place for sewing. I have worked with inkjet printer fabric before, and you cannot get it wet, but I figured that if Alicia Paulson thinks that a little dab of glue is okay, then it must be...So I happily glued layer after a layer after layer...

20 minutes later I realized with horror that my little dabs of glue were making the ink in the photos run. At best it looked like my family members had a severe case of rosacea:



At worst my sister-in-law now looked like a domestic violence victim:



My nephew's forehead bore resemblance to Manson family members:



And the ultimate, my mother-in-law's face looked like the top of Mikhail Gorbachev's head:



At this point, I was upset, but decided to forge on, consoling myself with thoughts such as "They are just kids, they will never notice..." and "It's a homemade gift, it has character!"

However when Matt came home and I showed him what had happened and fished for back-up and consoling thoughts he offered, "I would do it over again. Wow, that's pretty bad. Can't you just re-print the bad ones (over 3/4 of the photos)?"

"No!" I retorted "the inkjet fabric is too expensive and I don't have enough to reprint all of the bad ones!" Now I was definitely angry, and continued to sew my maimed family members together with a vengeance. "It'll be fine, it'll be fine..." I kept saying to myself.

Then I hear my cat, Cassie, licking something.

I look up to see that she is licking one of the cut out pieces of inkjet fabric.

This is when I started shouting expletives and chased my cat around the room. I'll let your imagination fill in the dialogue here.

To give you a clue, many sentences started with the letter "F".

I picked up the poor little scrap of fabric, a photo of my nephew Thi.

Matt called from the couch, "It can't look any worse than the other photos!"



"His nose is gone!" I cried "She licked off his nose!"

Matt starts laughing...I start laughing...Then I start sobbing.

AND SOBBING AND SOBBING AND SOBBING.

So that brings us to where yesterday's post began. I've decided to scrap this project entirely for Christmas. I am going to try and salvage it for their birthdays. I haven't the money, or the mental health to try and fix this one in two weeks time, so I've opted to make them both quick gifts from my stash. Not as cool as the memory game would've been...but sometimes you've just got to let it go.

I'm still in mourning...sniff sniffle.

Advent Day 13 :: A Damned Unlucky Number

"What's with today, today?" to quote one of the greatest movies of my youth, Empire Records.

Today I accidentally ruined two Christmas gifts that I had been working on for months. First there was hysterical laughter which devolved into tears.

Then Matt and I went out and bought ourselves movies and burritos.

Then I made myself a hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream and amaretto, as suggested by CRAFT blog. It was delicious, and I feel mildly better.

Today was a new low. Never before has a failed craft project reduced me to a sobbing mess. I'll share the gory photos with you tomorrow. You will laugh, it is quite funny. Now I'm just not sure what my niece and nephew are getting for Christmas :/

Sigh.

Advent Day 11 :: Flurry of Activity

My the past few days have been a flurry of activity! The holidays always do seem to take a life of their own the closer that we get to Christmas day...

Last night Matt and I had the real pleasure to attend BB's Nutcracker. I had never seen their production before, since I was always busy dancing in other productions elsewhere. I was really blown away. This is a Nutcracker not to be missed! Aside from the world class dancing the sets, costumes and lighting were so beautiful. My favorite moment was during the snow scene: Massive painted pine trees began to glow with twinkling lights as the "snow" began to fall down. I had a lump in my throat!

BB's website premiered a great little video the other day profiling one of this year's Claras. It's just over three minutes. I urge you to take a peek, and be schooled about the fabulous company.

The last few days were also a flurry of embroidery, as I rushed to finish up my Holiday Ornament Swap packages (late, as per usual). I embroidered eleven snowflakes total, ten to swap and one to keep. I love that they all turned out differently, just like real snowflakes! I must admit, these were a little difficult to send away, I love how they turned out!



Hope that all of you are enjoying the holiday season as much as I am! If you have anything special to share, please do in the comments!

Cheers, Sarah

Advent Day 7 :: A Sweet Gift

Yesterday our friends Jess and Alan gave us a sweet gift.



Holiday muffin mix and a huge container of mixed nuts coated in some sort of homemade caramel concoction. So delicious! In fact, a little too delicious...I ate a few too many of the mixed nuts and now I have a little caramel induced belly ache, whoops! That's what I get for being greedy!

I love little packaged up gifts like this. Do any of you have any fun little Christmas packages you like to put together for friends and family?

Advent Day 6 :: Christmas Card Writing Party

Here's the winter wonderland that I was talking about last night...



I took three pictures during my party today. I got the idea to do so from the fabulous book, 52 Projects by Jeffrey Yamaguchi.

Before



During



After



Most of us went to Bazaar Bizarre afterwards, and it was fabulous fun. I managed to buy lots of goodies for Matt, and a great book for my nephew. I'll share that soon, maybe tomorrow. For now, I'm exhausted, phew! Goodnight!

Advent Day 5 :: Christmas Snow and a Memory

I was cleaning up for my party tomorrow morning when lo and behold, just as my speakers were blaring Annie Lennox singing Winter Wonderland, I looked out my window, and there it was:



Christmas snow!

I have always loved snow. Some...okay, many... New Englanders get jaded about the fluffy stuff since it is with us for so much of our year. I guess I haven't reached that point yet. I hope that I never do!



When I was growing up, my bedroom window overlooked our street. When I was having trouble sleeping, I would get out of bed and watch the snow fly around by the light of the street lamp. I would kneel in front of that window, arms folded on the sill, chin resting on top and be hypnotized by the snow. Sometimes I would open the window to feel the icy air on my face and breath in a big whiff of "snow smell." I always used to tell my dad that I knew that it was going to snow because I could smell it. I figured out many years later that what I was smelling was our neighbors' chimneys. I guess our neighbors knew that it was coming too...the cold must have tipped them off!

Tonight I stood in my living room, held my broom, listened to Annie Lennox, stared past the tree, looked out the window and watched the snow fly around by the light of the street lamp. I was hypnotized. Still.

Advent Day 4 :: New Holiday Mix and Recipe

I recently completed the Holiday Mix CD and Recipe Swap over on Swap-bot. I was super pleased with what my partner Alyson sent to me. The mix is a perfect combination of classics, and new to me songs that I now love. I thought I would share the playlist and recipe that I received here:

Alyson's Holiday Mix

1. Boogie Woogie Santa Claus - Preacher Lee
2. Cha-Cha All the Way - Capitol Studio
3. Deck the Halls - Cuba L.A.
4. Feliz Navidad - Bobby Rodriguez
5. All I Want For... - Spike Jones
6. Indian Giver - Squirrel Nut Zippers
7. Winter Weather - Squirrel Nut Zippers (This is one of my new favorite songs!)
8. Baby It's Cold Outside - Brian Setzer
9. Sleigh Ride - Harry Connick
10. Merry Christmas Family - Dixie Chicks
11. Winter Wonderland - Eurythmics
12. Make Me a Present - Dinah Washington (Another new favorite)
13. Marshmellow World - Brenda Lee
14. Lasso Santa Claus - Brenda Lee
15. Santa's Messin' with the Kid - Eddie Campbell
16. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
17. Blues for Christmas - John Lee Hooker
18. Swing Them Jingle Bells - Fats Waller
19. White Christmas - Louis Armstrong
20. Jingle Bells - Bing Crosby
21. Sleigh Ride - Glenn Miller Orchestra
22. Hands - Jewel
23. Silent Night - Stevie Nicks

Alyson's Nutmeg Cookies

Cookies:

1 cup soft butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp rum (or rum flavoring)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3 cups flour
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting:

1/3 cup butter
2 tsp cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp rum
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

For cookies: Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl. Mix dry ingredients in a smaller bowl. Add/mix dry into wet a bit at a time until well combined. Roll dough into cylinders about 1" in diameter and chop into cookies. Bake at 350 F approximately 12-15 minutes. Dough also works well with cookie cutters. Frost and sprinkle with nutmeg while fresh!

***

Sounds tasty, huh? I can't wait to try this recipe out!

Cheers, Sarah

P.S. I have to add a note: Today I am SUPER THANKFUL that my friend Gemma has found a job! I'm over the moon thankful for this! Hurray!

Matt Approved Leftover Gnocchi with Sage Cream Sauce

This post is an entry to win Lucinda Scala-Quinn's new book Mad Hungry: Feeding Men and Boys.

I am interrupting my regularly scheduled Advent postings to bring you a man-approved recipe that we enjoyed for dinner tonight. There are no pictures, because we ate it all too fast. It was that good. Plus as a bonus, my hubby Matt uttered the magical words...

You have to make this again. I love it!

You see, dear readers, cooking for my husband can be...well...a teensy bit frustrating. Growing up with a mom who cooks professionally, working at a cheese counter the summer after my senior year in high school and immersing myself in the local slow food movement, my appetite is pretty much open to anything. Matt is open to anything involving cheese and bacon.

Here are a few of Matt's "Food Rules"

1. Pasta is to be served with butter and salt. Red sauce is gross, unless it is on pizza.

2. Anything that is prepared hot, but served cold is disgusting. This excludes all potato and pasta salads from Matt's diet.

3. Salad is not a meal. Unless it has meat on it. Then it might suffice as a snack.

4. Fresh tomatoes are gross. Any variety. (Believe me I've tried!)

5. Soup is not a meal. Period.

6. Autumnal savory dishes that have hints of sweetness (my FAVORITE) are unacceptable, i.e. dishes involving squashes, pumpkins and apples.

7. Pie is messy - cake is preferable.

Finally, Matt's ultimate foodie sin, in my eyes

8. Log Cabin is better than real maple syrup. (Insert the sound of me screaming right...here.)

I could go on...see what I have to deal with? I truly write all of this out of love, and only to illustrate the importance of hearing the illusive phrase, "Make that again!"

I'll quit my bitchin' and get on to the recipe!

Matt Approved Leftover Gnocchi with Sage Cream Sauce

Inspired by this episode of Working Class Foodies

For the Gnocchi

2 cups of leftover mashed potatoes
1/2 cup of leftover squash
2 eggs
Flour
Nutmeg

If your vegetables have been refrigerated, heat them up a bit, it will make your pasta dough a little more pliable.

1. Mash up your leftovers into a bowl. Crack open two eggs and mush them in.
2. Add a generous pinch of nutmeg.
3. Add flour until your dough is moist, but firm enough that you can handle it.
4. Divide dough into three lumps. On a floured surface, roll each lump into a long, skinny log. Cut into 3/4-1" pieces.
5. Plop your gnocchis into a pot of well salted boiling water. Gently stir a few times so that they do not stick. When they float to the top of the water, they are done.

For the Sage Cream Sauce

1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup of shredded cheddar
1/2-1 teaspoon of sage
Pepper

1. Over a low flame heat cream and cheese, until cheese melts. Stir to incorporate.
2. Season with sage and pepper to desired taste.

Pour sauce over gnocchi and enjoy! Makes two very generous servings.

Advent Day 3 :: Holiday Handmade Crusade December Theme

The Holiday Handmade Crusade theme for December is: Shake and Bake!: Our last theme for the year is 'Shake and Bake.' I think that food is ultimate last minute gift. Edible gifts take just a little bit of time to make, and I have yet to find a person that does not appreciate tasty treats. Whip up something tasty for someone you love, and if you do, post a picture of the goods online, and link to it in the comments.

* Also - if you are crazy with last minute crafting, certainly link to those projects too! *

SPECIAL DECEMBER BONUS ENTRY OPPORTUNITY: I want the Crusade to carry on in 2010, and I am opening the floor to suggestions for monthly themes. This month you will receive one raffle entry for each monthly theme you suggest. I would love to hear your ideas!

Entries to be eligible for the raffle are due on December 24th by midnight EST

Want to join in the year-long crafty goodness and have the chance to win fabulous prizes? Read all about the Holiday Handmade Crusade here.

Be crafty and prosper,

<3 Your Craftastic Christmas Crusader

Advent Day 2 :: Time to Get the Christmas Tree

It's so...



EXCITING!



Weeeee! Driving to New Hampshire!



Objective achieved - tree obtained!



Crouching Sarah, Hidden by Tree



Time to bask in the glow!



The end.

Advent Day 1 :: Santaland Diaries

Last year I attempted to blog every day during Advent, except I was interrupted for a few days by a nasty ice storm. This year I am going to try to keep up the blogging and make it a tradition. Some days I will share recipes, traditions, and links, other days might just be photos. We will see if I can keep up!

The other night Matt and I drove up to Portland, Maine to see the stage adaptation of The Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris. If you are local, the show is playing in the studio theater at Portland Stage, where Matt used to work. He made a guest appearance on this production as the lighting designer, and it was nice to return to such a familiar space and see old friends.

If you are familiar with the Santaland Diaries, then you will know that it is the ridiculous account of Sedaris' experiences as an elf in Macy's New York City flagship store. Since it is a rather ridiculous story, Matt took the opportunity to dress up in his latest thrift store purchase, a most ridiculous, tight, green suit.





In turn, I felt I had to dress a little ridiculously to match...





Me, terrified of Matt's lascivious Wild and Crazy Guys Suit alter ego...



We are silly.



The show was great. If you have not heard the radio broadcast, you must listen. It is Episode #47 Christmas and Commerce under December. The first time I ever heard this, I was home from college, visiting my friend Mark, when he pulled a cassette tape from underneath his bed and said, "You have to listen to this. Right now." And we did listen. And we laughed hysterically. And now I listen to it every Christmas. Thanks, Mark.



P.S. Today's post is my 500th post since I moved to Blogger a few years ago. WOW!