Goal 38 FINISHED!!!!

Okay everyone, I am pleased to report that I have finished one of my goals and this one is a huge one.  I have been working on it since I first made my list of goals.  I MADE A QUILT!!  I made this quilt mostly by myself with a little help from my mother .  I got the inspiration from a this blog and while it took  my MUCH longer than it did her I FINISHED.  Somewhere along the way I discovered that I enjoy creating things and have completed several other sewing projects.  My family now accepts me as a crafty woman and thanks to my brother Jens' family I have a brand new sewing machine.  Check out the pictures of my quilt and feel free to tell me how awesome it is.

Quilt Top

Quilt Bottom

Baby Quilt

Not sure when I became the crafty, sewing girl but I recently was invited to a baby shower and my first thought was "I should make a quilt!" Well I made a quilt.  In just 3 short evenings I made the most adorable (in my opinion) rag quilt.  Go me!!

Breakfast Disaster!

It has been a little while since I last posted and things in my life have been semi-chaotic and of course my blog is the first thing to go. This morning I decided to make breakfast and felt really good about that decision.  A yummy hot breakfast burrito sounded really great on this cold fall morning.  Well, turns out I need to slow down and start enjoying my life because my attempt at breakfast was a DISASTER!!!  The only thing I could do was take a picture and throw it away.  SAD!!

I like a little pepper on my eggs but not quite that much!!  Maybe I will try again tomorrow. (I am thinking I will probably be sticking with my cold cereal!)

My take away lesson for the day is that I need to slow down and enjoy life.  I will probably need to keep reminding myself.

Goal Number 37-New Recipe #10

Something happened to me that NEVER happens.  I got a package in the mail!!  Super exciting!!  Okay, I am sensing that you might not be as excited as I am but give me a minute to explain.  The package was from my good friend Paul and among other things it contained some fantastic recipe books that belonged to his mother. 

Today's recipe come from the HERSEY'S CHOCOLATE MEMORIES THROUGH THE YEARS COOKBOOK circa 1982.  According to this book this chocolate chip cookie recipe was developed somewhere between 1910-1920.  I learned so much more about Milton and Catherine Hershey in this book but I wont bore you with details.  So, without further ado...

HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups unsifted all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 cup chopped nuts

Cream butter, brown sugar, sugar, eggs and vanilla in large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture.  Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown.  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet onto wire rack.  Cool completely.

**Note, I did not add nuts to mine but only because I didn't have any.  This recipe is definitely going to be my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe.  It is delicious!!! 

Now, just as I was starting these cookies my darling sister Annie called and invited me to dinner.  I volunteered to bring dessert so I fancied up the cookies a bit and made some yummy looking ice cream sandwiches by sandwiching some vanilla ice cream between two cookies.  I am a freaking genius!!! 

Thank you Paul for sharing a bit of your mom with me and thank you Carol for raising a fantastic man who is a tremendous friend.



The List

How many of us have written a list of all the qualities that we want in a man???  I know I have certainly written my fair share (several times as a Young Womens activity.)  It occurred to me several years ago that maybe that practise wasn't entirely healthy.  I mean, as we mature we gain a wider perspective of who and what will make us happy.  I, for one, do not want to narrow the field of potential mates so much that no one will fit the bill.  Now I am not being completely ridiculous here and saying that we shouldn't have standards but merely suggesting that maybe those standards should be more about what would compliment us and less about the man. Does that make sense????

Anways, as I was playing around on http://www.pintrest.com/ today (if you haven't checked it out yet you should but be warned it's majorly addictive!!) I found the following list that I can fully support.  This is the man I am looking for...If you can't handle it you had best just move on because this list pretty much embodies me and all my dorkiness! :)

Crazy Crafting Lady!!

So, I have met someone recently who thinks it's his sole job to teach me patience.  Thank you very much Andrew! :)  Because of these lessons I have sought a lot of distractions and I have turned into the Crazy Crafting Lady.  Right now I am in the middle of hand quilting a  cute quilt but tonight I finished a super rad light fixture for my living room.

This light fixture was inspired by one I saw at IKEA but I convinced myself that I could make it for cheaper.  The fixture itself turned out a little diffferently than the one at IKEA but I absoutely LOVE the end result.

So, 1 16" paper lantern, 600 coffee filters, 30 hot glue sticks, 10 hours and 1 blister later this is the end result.

The light hasn't found it's permanent home yet because I have to put some anchors in my ceiling but I am so happy with how it turned out.  Go me!!! 

Progress-Goal Number 5

Goal Number 5 is to visit 5 MLB Parks so when the opportunity to visit Toronto presented itself last week I jumped at the chance. Mindy, being the kind friend that she is, induldged me in attending a game. We saw the Jays play the Orioles. Not exactly the best teams in the AL East but we had so much fun! Side Note: Canadians are super nice!!

Even if there was nobody at the game the skyline was impressive!

Great seats!!  First row of the 2nd deck. Home run side of the foul pole. 1st Base side!