Insomnia??

I couldn't sleep this morning. I think I have too much on my mind. Plus, once I'm awake I realize how hungry I am , and then it's over.

Instead of laying in bed and trying to fall back asleep I decided to get up, have a bowl of cereal and craft. My poor sewing machine is currently unavailable to me. It's lost in a mess of "transition" clutter. I figures instead of sewing I would try my hand at crochet. I didn't do too bad on my first project so why not.

I found a cute hat one the internet an started plugging away. Three hours later I had the final product. What do you think:




I think it came out pretty good actually :) Now to get off the couch and shower. :)

Favorites: The New England Soup Factory

On Sunday mornings, Guinness and I like to watch The Phantom Gourmet. The Phantom Gourment is a local foodie type show that reviews restaurants in the Greater Boston/Providence area. Basically, it's just a hour of straight advertisement and I don't believe it for a second. The film work is great though, it makes the food look soooo good. Even though I don't believe that any of the reviews are at all genuine (come on...most of the commercials are for the same restaurants they are reviewing....seriously) I find myself sucked in every week, and even sad if I forget to watch.

A few weeks ago there was a review of a soup restaurant in Newton called "The New England Soup Factory". I don't think I've had much for cravings so far in this pregnancy. When I say craving, I mean like TV sitcom cravings. I haven't wanted to get ice cream with pickles on top, or like my work-study boss in college, pasta with ketchup instead of sauce. The closest I've had to a "craving" is that I want to eat soup ALL THE TIME! Honestly, I'm not sure how different this is to my normal, non pregnant life. I really am a lover of soup.

The soup on this segment looked absolutely AMAZING and I wanted it immediately. I yelled to Hubs to come and look at the TV (he was in the kitchen), and asked if we could go get it for lunch. His response was "I am NOT going to Newton for SOUP!" In his defense, it was snowing out, but, that soup just looked amazing. I got over my disappointment and life went on.

A few days later, I was making plans to meet for dinner with some of my friends from my last job. They suggested going to The New England Soup Factory. I was pumped! That night I got the Tomato Cheddar Jalapeno soup and chicken curry salad sandwich. Both were superb. Don't they look delicious (yup...I take pictures of my food):



I ordered the same thing for Hubs on the way out and took it to go. He absolutely devoured it when I brought it home.

Since then we've "gone to Newton for soup" quite a few times. The Phantom Gourmet was absolutely right on this one :)

A Chaise of my very Own!

Sunday afternoon Hubs and I decided to go furniture shopping for a couch.  We have been in a market for a new living room set for about two years.  When we moved into our first apartment together we picked out a beautiful, but very unchild friendly, living room set.  The couch, chair and ottoman are a pale yellow color.  It was a very nice color when we first bought them.  The coffee table and end table that we got to go with it were wood and glass.  As a set it screamed, "early twenties and not planning on having kids for a long time".  Five years later, the couch is filthy and destroyed.  It didn't help that the furnace in our previous apartment broke (unbenounced to us) and threw soot onto our lovely light furniture; soot that didn't wash out too readily. 

After two years of searching and many upsets, we found a new living room set that stood up to our high standards.  What are those standards you ask? 

1. Must be comfy

2. Must be dark colored

3. Cannot be canvas or leather

4. Must be affordable.

Yeah, we were asking for a lot, but.....we found it, and....this is the best part.........in a SECTIONAL, WITH A CHAISE!!

cardis.com

You may not know this about me, but I have been in a love affair with sleep for basically my whole life.   Though, once I got pregnant, this love affair turned elicit.  Sleep and I are always together.  We just can't get enough of each other.  But, we long for more comfortable places to meet up.  The chaise on the new couch is it.  This is where my pregnantness and sleep will finally find their perfect meeting spot.  I cannot wait.

Since our couch was in stock (YAY!) we were able to get delivery right away.  The couch was set to be delivered on Tuesday (yup...today!).  Yesterday was a big day of cleaning and rearranging.  We decided to put the old couch in the baby's room for now.  Once we get a slipcover for it, it should make a nice addition to the nursery.  Guinness was none too pleased when we took away his couch.  We told him it was just going into his little sister's room and that we were getting a new one, but he just didn't believe.  He was most mad that we took away the perch that he used to sit on to look out the window.  He expressed his disapproval to us last night by ripping up as much stuff around the house as he could find.  It wasn't a good side of him.  Neither Hubs or I was impressed.

Hubs was home today when the couch was delivered, and said Guinness was very confused. Once it was all assembled he understood, and realized that his window watching perch was back.  Hubs sent me a few pictures of Guinness and the new couch.

Looks to me like Guinness is very sorry that he ever doubted us about the new couch.

I can't wait to get home and lay on my chaise.  I told Hubs to have my snuggie ready for me on my spot, and to not get any ideas about sitting there himself.   

Crafty Weekend WrapUp

This weekend my sister and my parents came to visit. The three of us girls went shopping while Hubs and my Dad stayed at the apartment to nap and play xbox. Who wants the boys to come shopping anyways right??

We started off the shopping trip with Michaels. I had big crafting intentions for the weekend and needed to get my supplies. My sister just started making her own jewelry and had promised me that she would teach me. She even bought me a set of tools before she came down. I had decided I wanted to make a charm bracelet. With lots of help, I picked out the beads, findings and other stuff that I needed to make my bracelet (and a bit more).

I've been wanting to learn how to make my own jewelry for a really long time. It seems like every time I go to the store and look at the beads I get overwhelmed. I kinda feel the same way when I think about my baby registry..... I just didn't know where to start. I would look for a kit or something to introduce me to beading, but couldn't find anything great in that arena either. But, this time, now that Manda knew what she was talking about, I felt better. Still completely overwhelmed, but at least I had someone to ask questions.

I really enjoyed making my bracelet. Though it took a little while for me to figure out what I was doing. Handy tip though, Manda told me she found a ton of beading how to's on YouTube. I go there sometimes to see how to apply makeup, so I guess I'll be going there for beading tips too.

Here's the final product. I'm wearing it today actually. I really like it...









Second on my list of crafts I wanted to learn over the weekend was crochet. Basically, I just needed to suck my family dry of their crafting knowledge. (oh, and don't worry, I let my dad fix the radiators in our apartment with Hubs so that he didn't feel left out) My sister in law, Brenda, had let me borrow a book of Baby Crochet. Here it is:




There are a TON of super cute baby crochet stuff in this book. My favorite being this garland of crochet hearts.




I know how to knit, but not crochet. My mom knows how to crochet, but not knit. I let her teach me :) Though, learning any sort of hand oriented crafts from my Mom is always kinda tricky cause she's a lefty. I just watched her do the crochet straight on facing her, instead of from the back. I have to say, that I am in love with crochet so far. The hearts are super easy...but I really like how they are coming out.




So far I've finished three. I'm thinking I'm going to do a heart for each letter in the baby's name, and then stitch the letters on with a contrasting thread. Then I can hang it over her bed. What do you think? Good idea?

Oh Baby, Baby!

Over the last few weeks I have been scouring the Internet for fun baby tutorials to try out.  I've amassed quite a collection of pieces I want to try.  As soon as I have a spot cleared for my sewing machine on the dining room table, I'll start construction.  We're currently in the process of the Great Apartment Purge, and it's always way dirtier before it's clean.  

Someday, I'll have a clean apartment and a nursery.  Hopefully, before June.  

Since I don't have a cute baby craft to update you with, I thought I'd leave you with the little baby bump I've been growing on my body.  It's getting there.......

And yes, I absolutely took these pictures in the bathroom at work.  What can I say, there is a fabulous mirror in there.

Where have you been?

Where have you been?  Why haven't you updated this blog in so long?? 

Seriously, those are some pretty good questions.  

Short answer: Who knows?  

Long Answer: Let me try to explain............

For Christmas, I went to Florida with my in laws for a little vacation.  We drove straight through from Boston to Orlando, stopping only for the bathroom, coffee, and fast food   The huge van we rented was packed to the brim with luggage, people and dogs.   Honestly, I was miserable the whole time.  Hubs loved it, even though he drove most of the way.  He just hates flying though.  I'm pretty sure I'd never do that drive again without stopping....ever. 

Once we got there, and I was able to wash my nasty hair, my nasty teeth (yes, of course I needed to stop the van on the side of the road at 4 am to vomit during the trip), and change my nasty clothes.  The horrors of the ride washed away in the shower, and I was loving being on vacation.  

We spent most of our time with the Mouse at Disney, though two days were spent at Universal.  I had never been to Disney when it was busy before....and let me tell you...it was busy.  I may have had a crowd induced panic attack on Christmas Day....maybe.  But, we had fun, and took a lot of pictures, and that's all that matters right?  I could go on and on explaining our trip....but the fun part is the pictures....so...here's a few of my favorites!

The castle was absolutely beautiful all done up for Christmas.  This is the picture that I currently have on my desktop at work.  I think it looks almost professional.

This is me and Hubs in front of the castle and topiary Minnie and Mickey.  Hubs was obsessed with taking pictures of the two of us.  He said one day the baby would want to see me pregnant.  I'm not sure I really believe that.....but I'm smiling anyways :)

This is the one picture that I pushed and shoved my way to get.  I'm sewing in Minnie's house!!  Don't I wish I had such a fabulous pink sewing machine. 

And finally, what a lovely picture of me and Hubs this would be, if only his brother wasn't sabotaging the picture.  Regardless....I think it's a cute picture of all three of us. 

So, vacation was fun.  We got back right after the New Year, and I tried to settle back into work and life. I'm just starting to get back into it now. :)