While It's Still Pretty

So far it has snowed all day long, starting well before we woke up and lasting until about half an hour ago. It's the pretty kind--fluffy and wet enough that it sticks to everything. Right now, I think it's beautiful. Especially combined with Christmas decorations and lights. Talk to me and three or four weeks and my opinion about the snow will have changed dramatically...

But for now, I couldn't get enough. Today has been a pretty perfect day--Charlotte is spending the day and night at my parents' so we can go out, so the day has been spent watching Christmas Vacation, drinking coffee, eating way too many leftover cookies from last night's cookie swap, and of course, taking pictures. And tonight we get to go downtown for dinner and Christmas light viewing. It's a good day :)

Enjoy your weekend :)

~Stacy

Christmasy

I can't believe Christmas is less than two weeks away. Yesterday we had our first "real" snow, meaning it necessitated shoveling. If the forecast is accurate, there will be quite a bit more shoveling in our future this weekend...

A few weeks ago we decorated our tree, with the help of Miss Monkey Pajamas below. Her method of setting the ornaments on the branches meant that it was easy to pick out which part of the tree she was in charge of :)

I have the year off from holiday hosting. While I enjoyed the last two years hosting and not having to go anywhere, I am glad to have a break this year. I've found that keeping a house company ready with a 2 1/2 year old undertow is challenging at best and impossible at worst. The only thing I'm hosting this year is a neighborhood cookie swap tomorrow evening. A party where everyone brings cookies and we end the night with more cookies than we started with? Not a problem. 

~Stacy

Christmas Dress

Despite my sewing drought that's been going on for a couple months now, I did manage to make something special: a Christmas dress for my girl. I feel like I've sewn with only Oliver + S patterns lately, but I guess that's a testament to how much I love them. The pattern I used was the Birthday Party Dress. Though I'm happy with the end result, this was not my favorite O+S pattern to date. The construction of the dress was a little confusing (overcomplicated?) and I'm not wild about how the pleats came together. It was certainly not a bad pattern, just probably not one I'd recommend after sewing with several others of theirs.

Here's the pattern:

The fabric is the red version that you may recognize from this post, part of the Avalon line by Fig Tree Quilts. I adore this line--it has so many different colors and they all seem to go together without being too matchy. I bought this fabric over the summer and have been hoarding it ever since :)

I decided not to use my model for this photo shoot since I reallllly want to avoid the chance that the dress could get stained (or for that matter, wrinkled, since this thing was a pain to iron. Those pleats...). So you'll have to imagine, and I'll try to remember to post pictures when she actually wears it.

The chances that I'll sew anything between now and Christmas is slim, so I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I'll see you again in the New Year with more fun projects :)

Chicago

Well, we made it! Despite crazy weather all over the country wreaking havoc on travel plans, we were able to get home from Chicago on Saturday on time (actually early!) and without any major headaches. It was a good way to end a great trip. A great trip but a cold trip, with temperatures hanging out in the teens most of the time.

We stayed at the Westin on Michigan Ave., which is right on the Magnificent Mile and close to a ton of shopping and restaurants. It was a nice place, though we were pretty much only there to sleep. 

The Westin is directly across the street from the Hancock Building, one of the tallest buildings in the city.

And just across from the Hancock Building is Water Tower Place, home of a giant Macy's, lots of shops, and the American Girl Place (where I would have probably had a heart attack had I gone when I was 8. That place is unbelievable).

Next up was a visit to Navy Pier, which was sadly a short visit since it was super foggy and rainy and construction at the site took over most of it.

I don't know why this surprised me, but it was completely dark in Chicago by 4pm--which meant it was time for indoor shopping, naturally.

Here is a random church across from our hotel that I just thought was really pretty. :)

The second day there we took a trolley tour and stopped at Millennium Park, home of The Bean. This place was really cool and there was hardly anybody there. Perhaps this was because it was the middle of a Thursday, perhaps it was because it was terribly windy and bone-chillingly cold, but either way it was pleasant. 

The next stop was State Street, home of an even bigger Macy's (and The Walnut Room restaurant, where we ate dinner). This area was home to even more shopping and the theater district, so there was plenty to do. We visited Magnolia Bakery, did more shopping, and at the end of the day went to see Elf: The Musical, which was adorable and funnier than I expected (I love the movie, but I was skeptical about the musical).

In between shopping and seeing Elf, we visited the Christkindl Market in Daley Plaza, which was a highlight. There were dozens of vendors set up selling art, jewelry, pottery, ornaments and tons of delicious German and Polish food, drinks and desserts. I could have spent more time there but at that point we had been out in the cold most of the day and had pretty much had enough.

On Friday, our last full day in Chicago, we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo. This place was incredible and the best part is that it's free. It was decked out with holiday lights and music and was a fun way to spend a couple of hours, plus we got to watch a particularly charming beaver swim around. It doesn't take much to please us, apparently.

View from the zoo:

And on Saturday, we left for the airport hoping desperately that we'd make it home on time despite all the nasty weather. Thankfully, our flight could not have been better. 

Farewell, Chicago. I hope to see you again soon!

~Stacy

My Best.

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope yours was excellent. I'm still full, though that may be due to the excessive amounts of leftovers we've eaten for the past four days.

We had a white Thanksgiving, which was pretty and made me hopeful that we will also have a white Christmas. And then after Christmas we can have a white nothing because snow is mostly just irritating after the new year. So is cold weather and the absence of almost all sunlight, but that is a topic for another day. Oh, and if you need any Christmas gift ideas for me perhaps you should look into one of those lights for people with seasonal affective disorder. Maybe it'll keep me from feeling on the brink of death come March.

So while I'm clearly not thankful for the bulk of winter weather, I am definitely thankful for many other things (not just leftovers). Here is a list, and certainly not a complete list, but a sampling, of things I am feeling thankful for right this very moment:

• Seeing old friends. As in, friends I've had for a long time, not friends who are literally old (though most of us do turn thirty this year...).  One of my best friends, who lives in Louisiana, called to say that she made a surprise visit for the long weekend with her two young boys. A few hours later I was sitting in her parents' family room visiting with her and her family for the afternoon. It was a fantastic way to spend the day. Every time I go back to that house I'm reminded of being a kid and teenager again, and I mean that in a good way. I don't know how many hours of my life were spent there at sleepovers, birthdays, graduations and barbecues but it was many and they were all good. Going there feels like coming home after a very long trip, every time. 

• This, which I can't really explain other than I found it on Pinterest recently and it made me laugh too hard and too long. And then I texted it to my brother while he was in a meeting and  almost cost him his job (not really, but he definitely found the humor in this as much as I did and may have had to excuse himself from the meeting to have a laugh). 

Image source

• My new washing machine, for playing a song every time it finishes a load of laundry. I know it's just doing its job and doesn't actually have thoughts or feelings, but that little jingle it does at the end of every cycle just makes it seem so excited to have done another load that it can't help but sing about it. I don't feel the same way about laundry, but it's nice to know someone does. Rather, something.

• My outdoor Chrsitmas lights, for not breaking. I plugged in all 8 strands this weekend fully expecting at least 7 of them to be dead, but to my surprise every single bulb was working. I wish I could say the same for my pre-lit Christmas tree, but since this is a list of things I'm thankful for and not a list of things I hate I won't discuss my pre-lit Christmas tree. Here we are at Lowe's buying new lights for said hated tree.

• The Harry Potter series, for being some of the very few books I've reread. I'm a reader, but not generally a re-reader. Even my most favorite books that I own copies of I've only read once. Harry Potter is the exception; I'm currently reading the series again and enjoying it just as much the second time.

• Our zoo membership. Having a membership is the best because it means we can go whenever we want and aren't forced to visit during the busiest times (like free Mondays). It also means we can go for just an hour or two, long enough to see an adorable sleeping koala bear, ride the choo choo and eat lunch.

• Seeing more old friends, like the ones who this weekend. One lives in D.C. and the other is always busy directing some sort of theater production, so we only see them once or twice a year. When we do it's like we just saw them yesterday. It also meant that on Saturday night I willingly stayed up until way past midnight while still wearing makeup, contacts and clothes that weren't pajamas. I felt like I had super powers.

• This girl. The one who turns two and half years old today. The one who stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the Sesame Street float during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the one who loves Elmo, Caillou and Katy Perry's Roar with almost equal intensity, who told me her grandma really wanted a kitty for Christmas, and who declares things that are her favorites to be "my best". I am most thankful that I get to spend my days with her. Despite toddler stubbornness, potty training woes, and the occasional meltdown over something ridiculous, I would still rather be hanging out with her than doing anything else. She is, without a doubt, my best.

Donuts. Donuts are also her best.

Happy Thanksgiving!

~Stacy