O Tannenbaum

Just got back from a quick trip home for the holidays.  I'll be back for Christmas, but took advantage of a long work break by visiting Grand Junction.  I finished some craft projects, started some new ones, and made many many marshmallows.  Somehow I have become the homemade marshmallow guru.  I travel the mountains imparting the wisdom of whipped sugar.

While holiday shopping with my mom I got a fabulous new Christmas tree.  I already had this rad black tree from last year.  Check out my new disco-tastic green tree!

I couldn't be bothered with a full sized tree this year.  But these little guys I can handle.  Here are some more Christmas-related photos I've been meaning to post:


Isn't my advent calendar chocolate TOTALLY a companion cube??

Earlier this month I went to the Holiday Handmade craft fair with Miranda.  She blogged about it here.  I'm finally posting my pictures of all the beautiful crafts (note: I received permission to take every photo).  Boy was it crowded!  Next year we'll go on the second day and plan to do more shopping.  I had most of gifts done already.  Even so, it was good I only brought a limited amount of cash.  I needed something to keep my spending in check!  Luckily most of these sellers have etsy.com shops.  I collected many business cards and plan to return to their online stores later.

Whereabouts

For those wondering where we'll be for the holidays, here tis:  I'll be in GJ this Monday/Tuesday (14-15th) for a short, quiet visit with my folks.  Then back to Denver where I work 3 back-to-back shifts Th-Sat and on call Sunday.  Monday is my day off of work.  Then I go back for 3 more in a row Tue-Thur, ending with an evening shift on Christmas Eve.  Ben and I will book it down to GJ on Christmas morning and spend a couple days there with family.  We're going to visit the gang in Utah, leaving either Monday or Tuesday after Christmas, and return to GJ Wednesday or Thursday.  Either way we need to be back in Denver by Ben's birthday on Friday the 1st, then I'm back to work on Saturday. 

If any of my friends out there happen to cross paths, give me a call!

Saturday in Boulder

Oh, Anthro

You need to stop with the darling sweaters.  I can't take it!  At least, not at full price . . . hurry up winter sales . . .

Molly's verdict on my new sweater

Is that it makes excellent biscuit dough.  She wouldn't stop kneading my belly!  Yes, this is a lot of cat pictures, but I got a few comments enjoying my last picture of us.  Thought you might like some more.  Oops, she's back.  This time on my knees.  That's cool.  As long as I can see my screen and type :-)

Owl sweater refinished

Here are photos of my finished owl sweater!  I bought buttons a while ago, but had to reorder more from Hobby Lobby.  Weeks later I found out they were discontinued and out of stock everywhere!  I finally snipped them all off and replaced them with sea-green beads.  I like these new eyes better anyway.  I also re-knit the collar so it comes up closer to my neck and doesn't slide off my shoulders.  It's so satisfying to say that this project is DONE.

Cat Attack!

Beans beans

Today I fulfilled a three year dream of ordering vanilla beans from ebay.  I found out about these sellers years ago, but either didn't have the cash or didn't have an active paypal account to deal with it.  I was whining about wanting vanilla beans to make more marshmallows and Ben basically told me to shut up and order them already.  After 25 minutes with paypal customer service to unlock my account, I bought my beans.  What a steal!  I got a 20 bean sampler of two varieties, costing $0.50 per bean.  Incredible! 

We got them tonight and Ben spent most of dinner trying to figure out why they cost so little compared to stores ($6 and up per bean).  Something about inelastic demand.  Or scarcity.  I don't remember.  It's cute how he thinks I understand economics.  All I know is I'm going to make some FABULOUS marshmallows tomorrow.

Sweet Action

My wacky husband craves ice cream more the colder it gets. Here he
and Brian sample the many flavors at our favorite shop.

Leftovers

I might love the meals after even more.

Thank you to all my family who came to Colorado and celebrated a
time-shifted thanksgiving with me!