Practically Picasso

A few weeks ago a few girls from work and I went to a place in Raleigh called Wine & Design. The premise is that you can BYOW and paint for a few hours with your girlfriends. There is an instructor who decides the theme of the evening and does a bit of instruction along the way - everything from a creating still-life art to a portrait of your home or pet.  The class we attended was painting happy little owls perched on a tree.  Except, I unknowingly painted my owls' mouths upside down, so they resemble the Angry Birds iPhone app.

Regardless of my [lack of] artistic abilities - I have been in a painting/crafty mood ever since.  Lucky for me, I have a home to decorate, so I had a great excuse to be a crafty, creative homemaker.

My first project was adding some decor to our bedroom. We have abstract art over our bed - and I created a trio of paintings to coordinate with it. (I actually used a blending technique that I learned at the painting class, which made me feel pretty darn cool.)  These went over the TV in our bedroom.  Just call me Mark Rothko.

My other project was for the guest bathroom. I recently bought a wall hanging that features a damask pattern and decided that another trio of paintings would help tie things together.  I am actually pretty proud of these little guys.

Sadly, I think I am out of areas that I can add my own artistic flare to. For now, at least. But I think I've been bit by the crafty bug. Not only do we have unique, one of a kind decor in our home - but I did it on a dime. Not too shabby.

There she goes...

This past week I got the biggest piece of flattery I've had in ages.  I got a letter informing me that I have been nominated to try out for the Miss North Carolina pageant.  They're only about 10 years too late.

On traveling solo...

I've done a bit of solo sightseeing in my day. According to a recent statistic, 45% of solo travelers are women - and 79% of those travelers wished they had someone traveling with them. I have to agree with that. Solo travel just isn't all it's cracked up to be.

A definite perk of taking a trip alone is that you get to plan the itinerary - and there's no need to compromise on what activities you do.  You have the freedom to explore back streets, wander into little shops, and maybe even blend in with the locals. 

Both Randy and I felt that our trips to the UK were good - but that it would have been a lot more enjoyable if we had experienced London together.  Before I went, he gave me some tips on things to see and do - he knows that I'm a cornball tourist, so the suggestions that he had were definitely up my alley.  Oh the man knows me so well.  Numero uno on my list was going to see Big Ben. It is quintessential London, after all.  So I made it a point on my one free afternoon to go visit downtown London.

This brings me to my main reason for disliking traveling alone - photo ops are scarce. You may get some great scenery photos - but it can be a hassle to try and get yourself in the photo. Sure, you can ask a bystander to take a photo for you - but most of the time, you end up with either a blurry photo, one that cuts off part of your head, or one so far away you blend in with the scenery.  Your last resort as a solo tourist is taking the dreaded self-portrait. These photos end up worse than if you had a fellow tourist snap it for you - plus it is pretty dang obvious that you're a tourist - and you look like a goofball.

So - below is the one photo that I have to prove that I was in London.  Mind you, it ain't pretty - but it's all I have.

Before my next solo trip I should probably practice the art of taking self-portraits. Oh, and do my sightseeing on a day that it's not raining. But I'll focus on one thing at a time.

Remember the time I had a blog?

Oh gheez. I have literally fallen off of the blogosphere. I can't believe how quickly time has passed - and that I've not blogged since DECEMBER! I always have big aspirations to blog, but I've not followed through. 

I have a few blogs up my sleeve - - watch for those this week!

Cookie time!

This year I knew that I'd need to make a boatload of cookies...between the holidays with my family and the in-laws, we all eat our fair share of cookies.  For the past few weeks, I've been thinking about what cookies would make my list.  This year I narrowed down the choices to four (after all, I would like to avoid gaining 10 pounds over the next month):

• Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies
• Peppermint Bark Bars
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Toffee Bars

I chose 2 sentimental recipes, 1 classic, and one newby!  We've had the Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies ever since I could remember. A good family friend used to make these every year and bring our family a few dozen. The cookies are crispy and light, and the almond-flavored frosting is delicious. I generally avoid using Crisco - - but I know that's why the cookies are so great! The toffee bars are my grandmother's recipe. (I've shared the recipe previously) My mom, aunts, and grandmother used to get together a few weeks before Christmas and bake all sorts of cookies, bars, and fudge - and this is one of her recipes.

As for the other recipes - I could spend 3 hours making a very elaborate dessert or fancy cookies - and my husband would rather have homemade chocolate chip cookies.  So I made those for him. :)  My last cookie selection was featured on the Pioneer Woman Cooks - and these are a new holiday tradition. Peppermint bark bars - heavenly!

Friday night, Randy went out to have a boy's night - and I stayed home to make cookies! I finished icing the last cookie at about 3:30 a.m. But it was worth it to have it all done.  So now our freezer is stocked...let's see if we make it 'til Christmas.

I wish...

I wish that I could run a cooking blog.  I LOVE to cook!  I LOVE to try new recipes!  Sounds simple, right?  Well, I lack a few of the skills necessary to be good at it, mainly diligence and mad photography skills.  (Plus I lack the willpower to take pictures of my masterpiece before taking a big bite out of it).  So I live vicariously through my foodie blogs and Cooking Light magazine.  Well maybe not 'vicariously' because I find some great recipes that I work into my repitoire.

Take this week for example...my meal plans include:

• Mushroom Stew with Spetzle (a la Cooking Light) - I tweaked this and made mine a beef and mushroom stew with a double batch of spetzle. MMMMM!
• Fiesta Turkey Pie (from Cake Batter and Bowl) - like the love child of stuffed peppers and my Auntie Mary's baked mashed potatoes.
• Asian Foil Baked Chicken (from a friend of a friend's blog)

Unfortunately, I don't get to cook dinner on Tuesday/Thursdays, but I make enough to tie us over until another "cooking night"

While I'm on the topic of foodie blogs...I am also totally obsessed with Sweet Pea's Kitchen blog. SOO many good recipes!  (I actually made her pumpkin scones on Sunday also)

oh wow.

I am ashamed of myself.  I promised to make October the best blogging month to date - and didn't deliver.  In some respects, the month flew by - but mostly I'm glad to be done with the month.

I got a promotion at work, so now I'm the leader of my department.  I have been enjoying it so far, but it's been a lot of work.  But being so busy makes the day fly by - and here it is, almost Friday, and I don't remember where the week went.  My new role at work (and hiring/training 5 new employees) kept me busy all month.

The most notable piece about October is that Randy was out of the country for the entire month (hence the reason I was anticipating having so much free time on my hands).  He worked in our company's London office for four weeks - and he had a great time.  But in that respect the month crawled by because I missed my hubby like crazy.  I'm SOOO happy that he's back!

I had an entire "to-do" list mapped out - and projects penciled in here and there.  I didn't really have the chance to follow through on many of the things I wanted to try.  I attempted pierogies, but the dough was disasterous.  I did get some of my Cooking Light binder organized, but didn't get too far. 

But I did get the chance to decorate my house a bit more (my Mom came down for a weekend, more on that later) - and it's really coming along.  I only wish we had more house guests around these parts.

So my apologies to all of you who were settling in for an exciting month of blogging.  I let you down.  I've learned my lesson, though - being busy can creep up on you when you least expect it.