Archive for August, 2007
I just looked at the clock. How in the *world* can it be 5:30 p.m. already? I guess that’s what I get for scheduling an appointment later in the afternoon and then going grocery shopping after that. Sure made the day go by faster! For a brief *few* minutes today, both of our children were napping. It was blissful. :)
OK … so here comes my yearly, “I can’t wait for autumn to arrive!” blog entry. If you’d asked me a week or so ago, however, I would have said that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to summer just yet. I love summer. But … I’m getting quite tired of these 90-degree temperatures lately. August is just about over, for heaven’s sake! Time for some cooler weather to make its appearance and stay for a while! The end of August is always such an in-between time, too. Summer isn’t quite over, but it’s still hot and the landscape seems to have lost some of its vibrance. September always signals autumn to me, even though it doesn’t officially begin until September 21st or so. And … I especially can’t wait for fall to arrive this year so that we can celebrate Miss Meri’s first birthday! :)
So … what changed my mind and made me feel *very* excited about fall’s impending arrival?
My inlaws traveled to North Carolina’s Outer Banks back in June and had the *best* time. I’ve always wanted to visit there; it seems like a beautiful place. Maybe Jeff and I can plan a family vacation to the Outer Banks sometime in the near future. (I think that I’ve only been to Cherokee, NC, by way of Gatlinburg, TN!) Anyway, if you’re planning a trip to the Outer Banks, this site lists a lot of fantastic-looking properties for rent. How nice it would be to have all of the comforts of home in a place right by the beach! Ahh.
Sponsored entry: Hmm. I have to write about progesterone. LOL! :) Not really sure what to say … but you’ve gotta love a website whose URL is “UltraPMS.com.” hehe :) Read the warnings on this stuff first, though, in case you’re actually thinking about purchasing something like this. I’m not sure that I’d advocate it. Hey, I’m all for lessening the symptoms of PMS … but I’m not sure that I’d want to fool around with something like this cream.
Another blatant Pay U2 Blog advertisement! hehe :) In case you’re shopping for home-related items ~ here’s a furniture store that has a good selection of Century furniture. Beautiful stuff. But … what I thought was neat: they have a webpage that lists popular furniture manufacturers, so if you’re looking for something by a certain company, it’s easy to find. Gosh, I think that I’ve been bitten by the home decorating bug! LOL! :)
My good friend Carol is giving away some of her awesome scrapbooking supplies through a fun blog contest. What a neat idea! If you’re interested in paper crafts, make sure to check out the contest details and post a craft-related entry in order to enter. I couldn’t resist participating! So … here’s my contest submission: I’d like to share with you some of my current craft projects. (And I’d love to know … what crafty things are you guys out there currently working on?)
~A basketweaving-themed bath and body gift basket as a donation for one of my mom’s upcoming basketmaking conventions. (She weaves baskets, in case you didn’t know!) I’m *so* excited about putting it together. Basketweavers normally develop pretty chapped and sore hands, so I’m planning to include lots of bath and body items that are soothing and moisturizing. The fragrance will be similar to “Nantucket Briar” by Crabtree & Evelyn (I thought that it would go well with “Nantucket baskets”!). It’ll be raffled off in a silent auction. I just hope that the recipient will enjoy what I’ve made!
~30 mini bottles of shea butter hand crème (again, to help the basketweavers with their dry, sore hands). The bottles arrived yesterday, and I’ve started putting everything together. The labels are printed out, ready to go. My mom is giving these away as little thank-you gifts to the students who are taking her basketweaving class. So neat!
~About 10 or so rubber ducky glycerin soaps as favors for Meredith’s first birthday party. We’ve chosen a rubber ducky theme (because she seems to have a fascination with them!), so I ordered some “happy birthday duckies” to embed inside oval-shaped bars of glycerin soap (colored blue to look like they’re “swimming” in the water). It’ll be *lots* of fun to create these and package them up all nicely. I can’t wait! Better get started ASAP!
~Meredith’s first birthday party invitations. I ordered some Stampin’ Up! supplies from my good friend Shannon, and hopefully those will arrive soon. I’m going with pale yellow, pale blue, and shimmery white. We’ll see what I can come up with! :)
~Scrapbooking. That’s an ongoing project! I’d like to have Meredith’s first-year scrapbook all ready to go by the time her party rolls around, but realistically … I don’t think that I’ll have time to finish it. Just way too much going on. Someday I’ll catch up on all of my scrapbooking. Someday. :) I *am* able to do a little bit in the evenings, though, after the kids have gone to bed. And just the other night, I put together an anniversary card to send to one of my online friends (Cady, don’t you *dare* take a peek! LOL!). That was fun!
I recently came across a website that offers free shipping on some of its home furniture items. Just passing that along in case you’re looking to purchase some items for your house. And if not, this site also has some interior design articles with lots of good information about making your house a home. Some of you parents-to-be out there might be interested in creating a baby’s nursery on a budget and tips for ensuring crib safety. I had fun reading this how to live French country style piece ~ I’m *all* about French stuff! :)
I enjoyed a nice dinner on Friday night with Lucas and Meredith. (My husband unfortunately had to work late, but it was more of a “professional appointment” for me, anyway.) Somewhat awkward going to a sit-down restaurant by myself, but I *so* loved spending some one-on-one time with our children!
There’s a new café in the next town over from us, and I interviewed the chef and owner for a restaurant review. (And was a bit nervous about how I’d conduct an interview while watching Lucas and Meredith ~ not to mention also having dinner with a 2.5-year-old and almost 10-month-old by myself ~ but they were *so* well-behaved it was unreal!) We’re really blessed to have such good kids. Anyway, the food was delicious ~ and the place is *so* cute! I’m thinking about “stealing” some interior decorating ideas from them for our house! I enjoyed steak pinwheels (stuffed with garlic, parsley, and a few other yummy things), a baked potato with butter and sour cream, roasted and sautéed summer vegetables, a yummy bleu cheese salad, and a tall glass of ginger-peach iced tea. No room for dessert! Next time, I want to have lunch there and sit outside at one of their cute café tables. I also saw some bars of soap in their gift shop area ~ must investigate those! :) It was a really nice evening. Now comes the challenging task of writing an interesting feature story for everyone in our county to read! :)
I love the way that our master bedroom looks. We’ve got a powder blue, navy blue, mauve, and white theme going on in there ~ and we use a *gorgeous* quilt that we received from a friend’s mother as a wedding gift. But … I think that our bedroom could look a little more “put together” than what it is. I’m thinking that we can get some artwork framed and hang it (we bought some great prints during our honeymoon in Quebec City). And while I like our current furniture, there’s some bedroom furniture here that would make nice complementing pieces. I *so* wish that I’d had a nice rocking chair like this one when Lucas and Meredith were newborns. There’s *so* much that we’d like to do to our house, but … time and money are a factor. Oh well ~ little steps at a time! :)
I’ve always wanted to see California. I think that it would be completely different from anything that I’ve ever experienced. San Diego especially looks *so* beautiful. The thing is … that trip would require me actually getting onto an airplane, but maybe we could make a *huge* vacation of it someday and *drive* from NYC to L.A.? hehe :) Think about everything that we could stop and see along the way! Anyway, here’s a great site that lists different California bed and breakfast places. I’m definitely bookmarking this site for future travel ideas. And if you’re not interested in the bed-and-breakfast thing, the site also has yummy-sounding bed-and-breakfast recipes. I wouldn’t want to open my own bed and breakfast someday (way too much work!), but I’d *love* to cook and bake things for one! :) I took an *awesome* bed and breakfast cookery class at the CIA several years ago. And we stayed in a great bed and breakfast in June 2004 for our fourth wedding anniversary. I highly recommend checking out a bed and breakfast sometime if you haven’t already! I wouldn’t mind heading to New York’s Finger Lakes Region and staying at a cute bed and breakfast sometime with my hubby for a romantic getaway.
