Things That I Love

1. The monster I have created for hand-embroidered onesies and kids' shirts.

This most recent monster onesie was put together for my friend Rachel, who wanted something fun for a onesie exchange she was doing. I've been doing a lot of hand embroidery recently (my talented sister-in-law, Janie, taught me) using hand-felted wool sweaters, and I love it! I have grand plans of making this monster (his name is Bea) my signature piece in a line of fun clothes, but of course that's a pie-in-the-sky sort of dream. For now, I just love embroidering him onto anything that will sit still long enough.

(Note: Bea likes to accessorize. In this particular instance he is wearing pink Converse high-tops. Bea has been know to wear baseball caps. He is also rather bow-legged. Evidently Bea rides horses frequently.)

2. Decorating for fall.

That centerpiece above cost me less than $10 total. I'm really happy with it. That might be the biggest candle I've owned, and I'm wondering how I've survived so long without it.

And that is a Yankee Autumn Pumpkin candle. Fall is officially here!

3. The cow creamers I stumbled upon at a home consignment store the other day.

I didn't collect cow creamers until two days ago, when I found these two darling creamers and situated them next to my one white cow creamer. So I suppose three makes a collection. I've always liked that white one, and these two were hiding in a cabinet, priced at $3.99 apiece. The cashier had mentioned that they were going to do some markdowns that morning, so when I brought them to the front I asked if there was any chance she could mark these down. She said, "How about $3 apiece?" Not a huge difference, but then I busted out the $4 in store credit I had in my possession. Final total cost for both cows: $2.38.

And now all three of them live happily ever after on the second shelf of my china cabinet.

Moo.

4. Going to Salt Lake City on a childless vacation.

That's right, folks! Stephen and I are about to embark on a no-kids, adults-only getaway. I am positively shivering with anticipation.

He has a planetarium conference (he's the director of our alma mater's planetarium) for a week, and I'm going to join him for a long weekend, from Thursday to Monday. He's never been and I've only been as an infant (which doesn't count because I don't remember it), so we are both very, very excited to explore a new town, stay in a hotel, and use free public transportation. Between my parents and his folks our kids will be in excellent care, and they will most likely actually be very spoiled. It's a win-win for everyone!

Because of this trip, I have no guarantees about when I'll post next. So I will bid you all farewell until I am able to post pictures of our funfun happytimes mini-vacation.

And... farewell!