Spent 24 hours in Annapolis, MD this weekend–a town that avoided damage during the Revolution and Civil Wars and, as a result, is full of old buildings, graveyards, and historic markers.  We loved just about every cold, rainy, soggy, damp minute of it.  In theory we went up for Jon’s company’s holiday party… but mostly [...]

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R.I.P Grandma.  I’ve got lots of good memories of your house in the VA countryside– deer in the creek, warm afternoons in the hammock, learning about gardening in that enormous spot you had.  I know you lived in TX the last 6 years, closer to the family, but I’ll always rememer you in VA, with [...]

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This wreath was a lot of fun to put together (and so easy): no sewing at all was involved.  I just cut the fabric into 2 inch strips and pinned it onto a styrofoam wreath frame.  The ribbon is just a basic wired grosgrain ribbon and that glittery branch came from Michael’s.  Wreaths are my [...]

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Spent this weekend doing lots of fun stuff.  The most fun, however, was watching the Saints eek out a win over the Washington Redskins.

I haven’t been to an NFL game since I was… 10? maybe 12?  Anyway, we had a ball.  WHO DAT?!

Oh, and did I mention the Saints won?  They did.  In overtime.

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It’s nice, when the weather gets cold and the days are so dark, to reflect on the year behind us and the things in our life that bring us joy.  Today, a (short, incomplete) list of things I am thankful for this year:

Being lucky, in all sorts of ways;
Being employed at a job I love;
Being [...]

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Since I’m *trying* to make the gifts I’m sending out to friends and family as well as the 40-something holiday cards I send out (some of which are no-doubt heading to people who read this blog), I’m going to keep mum about my plans for this fabric, paper, thread, and decor.  Just know two things: [...]

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Audry Tautou in Coco Avant Chanel
It’s been a wheezy, sneezy, stuffy few weeks around here.  I got (another) cold and then Jon caught it too.  We’ve been doing a lot of trashy-TV watching and drinking a lot of lemon tea.  I finally felt well enough this weekend to head out to see Coco Avant Chanel.  [...]

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“Stand Up Straight” 2010 calendar from Athertonlin’s Etsy shop.
Perhaps you remember last year when I kind of panicked about my calendar rut.  It’s come again– to Moleskine or not to Moleskine for my day planner, to head back to the Nikki McClure calendar I’ve sort of missed even though I loved the art I had [...]

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“Dia de los Muertos Band” from PurpleTwinkie’s Flickr stream.  Licensed via the Creative Commons.
El muerto al cajon, y el vivo al fieston! (The dead one to the coffin and the living one to the big party)– Dia de los Muertos greeting.
I feel a bit bad about how into Dia de los Muertos I am– after [...]

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In honor of Halloween and my new job I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about movies regarding illness, quarantine, and general public control.  Trust me, these things are related but job is actually about doing good.  I swear– it’s all about being the hero.  Anyway, I’ve had to dig out two of my [...]

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