You know it's one of those days....

when you open two different bottle of champagne and both are fairly flat.  I've just decided that 2010 decided to go out with a whimper so that 2011 can come in with a bang.  But really?  Bad champagne?!  For anyone that knows me, this is a tragedy of a high degree.  Sigh.   Here's to 2011, flat champagne or not!

Making wine from grapes...

That's my take on the whole making lemonade from lemons saying.  New Year's Eve has NOT gone at all to plan...we were to travel this afternoon to Minneapolis for a friend's wedding this evening.  However, the weather seemed to decide otherwise for us, and ice and snow combined to make us stay home instead.  So with that extra time, I decided to take advantage of this unplanned day at home and wrap up some unfinished projects that had been laying around the craft room for a while.

First I worked on a curtain for our basement window...it didn't turn out quite as "finished" looking as I'd hoped using the serger on the ends, but that's easy enough to fix another day.

After that, I finished up a baby gift - a Hawkeye blanket - that has been sitting around for MONTHS.  It's embarrassing how long this one has been pinned together and waiting for me to finish it.  This was just a comedy of errors today, and while it's not perfect, it's done and will definitely work for the little one who is going to receive it. 

It even got the "Harley Sue" stamp of approval.

Now that those are done, I'm going to sip on some wine (and later champagne), make us dinner, and perhaps do some quilt cutting and crocheting.  While I feel horrible about missing out on the wedding, it is a relief not to have to deal with slippery roads.  And even if we hadn't decided to go, apparently our house decided for us as our garage door appears to have broken and we can't open it to get the cars out!  Hopefully we can get that repaired here soon.

With that, I wish you all a safe and Happy New Year!  Cheers to a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!

A Time To Give Thanks

I have so much to be thankful for as we celebrate this Thanksgiving holiday.  Family, friends, wonderful career opportunities, the list could go on and on.  I wish you all a wonderful holiday and ask that as you celebrate and enjoy many blessings that you consider those less fortunate and how you can share the joy of the holiday season with others.  For those in the Des Moines area, consider joining me in adopting a family through the Boys and Girls club (I am happy to provide more information if you are interested).  If you are outside of Des Moines, there are similar groups in every community working to ensure that every family has something to celebrate this year.  I wish you all a blessed holiday season and a very Happy Thanksgiving.

A Gluten-Free Thanksgiving

The holidays are always challenging fir me when it comes to food...generally involving failed attempts not to overeat each meal.  However, since I've had to start watching/avoiding my gluten intake, holidays pose an additional challenge.  With that in mind, I owe a big thanks to my friend Amanda over at Stitch to Stitch, who directed me over to The Thrifty Mama who had a link to a helpful guide for the upcoming holidays.  There I found a coupon code for a free download of the ebook: Jules' Gluten Free Thanksgiving. 

It's a book, it's free, and it'll help with a gluten free holiday...what more can you ask for!?  Even if you yourself aren't gluten-free, your friends or family may have this on their do-not-eat list.  The book provides lots of recipes and ideas for the holiday meal (and surrounding meals) that provide options for all.  Check it out here and use the coupon code "thanks10" through October 14 to download your free copy.