I bought this bag of leather scraps last summer when I was home visiting my parents in Wyoming. I bring it out and fondle the bits every once in a while, but now I am seriously starting to research all things leather related. My dad does beautiful leather work and it’s something that’s been on my “to-do” list for a long time now. Now is finally the time to get busy and I’m currently mulling over project ideas. Jewelry? Purses? Belts?

Work is intensely busy right now. I’m helping design (UI and front end development) for the reservation system for Washington’s Ferry system and it’s incredibly complicated and all-consuming so I  am pretty much a zombie when I get home. As such, I have to take little Parisian snow globe breaks periodically during the day.

And as if to make up for that horrible storm two weeks ago, Mother Nature has decided to reward us with a sunny, beautiful weekend. It’s still mighty chilly, but warm enough for me to get the tulip bulbs out of the garage and finally into the ground. I hope it’s not too late!

First it snowed. A lot.

Then the freezing rain came. Yay! Ice storm!

Which brought trees down on things like fences and roofs.

And power lines. The Governor declared a state of emergency.

So, we had to do things by candlelight for SIX DAYS.

And then it rained. The power (and internet!) were restored and all is right in my world.

This week was so totally draining. The snow was kind of cool in the magical way snow can be, especially if it’s the first snow of the winter. The ice storm was unexpected and really sucked, yet was sort of fascinating at the same time. We listened to the trees in the wetlands that surround us SNAP! CRACK! CRASH! for two days. It got really scary when the maple tree on the neighboring property crashed on our fence, and then again on our yard and roof a few hours later. Being without power for so long was by far the hardest part. We are on a well so that also meant no water. Thank God for our wood stove…that gave us heat and a place to cook and heat water. Cold, frustrated, sleep deprived. The power finally came on, then went off, then came back on again. A week later pretty much all of the snow is gone and there are tree parts scattered all over town waiting to be chipped or turned into firewood.

I feel like I can finally relax and I’m looking forward to getting my routine back!

Afternoon walks in the sunshine.

Perfecting my sourdough technique.

Roasting tomatoes.

Painting another chalkboard surface in the hallway.

Delighting in snow. (I’m over that now.)

All photos taken with my iPhone. I know I am totally late to the game but I am having so much fun with the camera and all of the apps on it.

I never showed you my poster. I’ve had this gigantic IKEA frame lying around for an eternity and couldn’t figure out what to do with it. I finally decided to pull together some of the amazing images from my 35mm pendant lamp so they can be seen in another light, so to speak. I had it printed and foamcore mounted at Kinkos. I love how it turned out. As you can see I have yet to hang it!

Here are the images I used:

Now I want to go on a trip!

I recently wrote about tracking the sun for my new garden plot and I whipped up this little graphic on a whim. It was a really good whim in a lot of ways. I’ve been feeling really unsure and uninspired regarding anything art related. I think I lost track of the feeling of creating because it makes me happy because I’ve been so caught up in the idea of trying to figure out how to make money creating – and not being able to bring myself to even start. A friend once told me something along the lines of “If you do something just for the money, then that’s all you’ll get.” Meaning no joy or fulfillment.  I think unconsciously I knew that and was stopping myself by forming some sort of “writer’s block”.

It’s a small start, and a great reminder. No art related goals for 2012 other than to relax, quit pressuring myself, and only do things because I want to, not because I think I have to.

1)Insanely expensive Dwell Studio Sheets 2)Tattooed Men by Mimi Kirchner 3)Dying of cute 4)Rugs USA 5)Apartment Therapy 6)Tattooed Man Doll by The Black Apple

I’ve started off the new year with a nasty cold so the only thing it seems like I have been doing is sleeping. In between naps I’ve been trying to keep myself busy with *something* and that something has been deciding what to do about our bedroom. This year I’ve decided that I want to make some major progress on the home front, instead of being lazy about it as per usual so it’s been on my mind a lot lately. We made the decision last year that we would swap bedroom locations from its current location downstairs to the extremely large and spacious suite-like room we have upstairs.

Take a look at this post on Making it Lovely about redecorating a reader’s bedroom as our room upstairs is almost identical in terms of layout…mainly the sloped ceiling wall along one the side of the room. Here’s the finished room. Nice! I showed it to Jefe and he loved all of the black, and blue color on the walls so that’s where I started. I pulled the images from stuff I have pinned on my Pinterest boards. I don’t know what’s up with the tattooed men…something about them tickles my fancy. AND they match the color scheme!

Jefe and I spent our New Years Eve recording our  drunken ramblings future podcast on tasting Rose Sparkling Wines. The winner being from Germany of all places (audio and a new website to follow!). Jefe also made an AWESOME Lobster Mac and Cheese, which I captured with my new iPhone. That little camera totally rocks – major 2011 accomplishment right there.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about my resolutions for 2012 and I had to go back and remind myself what I wanted to accomplish in 2011. Building the fence  was a major item and I am so glad we managed to get that done. In fact gardening has been so much on my mind lately that I’ve decided to start a new blog specifically devoted to creating my new garden. The seed catalogs are starting to arrive and I’ve been cultivating a ton of garden ideas on Pinterest so I am raring to go.

I didn’t sew nearly as much as I wanted to, and aside from gardening, sewing is a topic that takes up a lot of my mind space. My pattern collection is growing a long with my stash and I really hope to make some beautiful clothes this year.

I want to focus on continuing to spruce up the house this year and am looking forward to more craft/arty projects to help that process along.

I didn’t really do any canning like I planned. I made a dandelion jam, which I have yet to try, but that was about it. So again, this year – Canning!

I want to learn how to forage, mainly huckleberries and chanterelles. I know a lot of people who forage, and they guard their secret spots like crazy so I am thinking that I need to take a class or something.

I need to get out more. While my parents were visiting us this Christmas we took a little drive out to Boston Harbor Marina and Burfoot Park, both of which are about 15-20 minutes from our house but seem like a million miles away. It made me wonder why I don’t go out there more. There are a ton of beautiful little places like this around Olympia, and I need to be better about leaving my cozy little home and exploring the world.

I know that 2011 was a really crummy year for a lot of people. I am blessed that I managed to escape the tragedy and trauma a lot of my friends experienced, so here’s hoping that 2012 will be better for us all.

I collect marshmallow recipes and when I came across a recipe on The Kitchn for Chocoloate Covered Beer Marshmallows I knew I had this year’s holiday treat. I’ve noticed that not everyone is as excited about these as I am, and when you say “beer marshmallows” the reactions are usually a variation on a scrunchy face. So how do they taste? Awesome. Not like beer at all, and I think that has to do with the kind of beer I used, which was Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. This is HOLY COW good beer. I don’t even like beer really, and this beer is SO GOOD. CAPS-ON good.

If you are thinking about making these, here are some tips for you that I would do differently next time:

• Actually read the recipe and use milk chocolate, not dark. The dark totally overwhelms the marshmallow flavor.
• Don’t get all fancy and try to create a pretzel crust that won’t hold and will turn into crumbles when you cut the marshmallows.
• Use less gelatin, or try Alton Brown’s Marshmallow recipe. I felt like these marshmallows were just a tad chewy.

I’m going to take some of these to work to prove to my fellow coworkers that I am not crazy, and then save some for my mother to do the same. They are definitely not an everyday kind of treat and they would be a great gift for the beer lover in your life.

Jefe and I have finally joined the 21st century and decided to get iPhones. One of the first things I did was download the Instagram app. Now I just HAVE to have the Photojojo lenses as well. Santa? You listening?

And of course there is the question of the case. What kind of case should I get? The cross stitch cover? I am actually leaning to something more along the lines of this Kate Spade polka dot cover. Too many choices!