Italy and a Wall

Wow, I really suck at this whole blogging business don't I? In my defense not too much has happened lately. Thanksgiving was nice and quiet, as was Christmas. Since we live so far from our families, holidays tend to be that way.

On to current news. We will be leaving Saturday for a two week trip to Italy to see John's father. Did I mention we will be traveling with an eleven month old? If you're the praying type, please say one for us, I think we'll need it! I am pretty excited about the trip nonetheless. We will arrive in Venice, and his father lives in a small town called Cavasso Nuovo which is about two hours west. The closest "city" would be Pordonone which is about 30 minutes from his house I'm told. I'm excited to see the historical sights and to just experience Italian living. Since our flight leaves from Italy so early we've decided to spend the night in Venice which will give us a chance to see the sights there as well. Neither of us speak any Italian so it's a good thing we are visiting someone who does! I have been trying to at least get the basics down, but it's just so darn hard! I think we'll manage though. So be expecting a blog update when I get back loaded with lots of pics!

I did however manage to finish one project on my list this month. The infamous bare wall in our living room is now adorned! I think it turned out all right, of course there are things that I think could change or maybe next time I'll do differently, but it works for now. Ultimately my goal is to finish a painting for the space. Anywho, here's is a picture of how it looks now...

I couldn't seem to get the couch and the wall in the same shot ;) So here's a pic with part of each:

Like I said, it'll do for now. It's much better than a blank wall that's for sure!

And finally, my baby will be a year old next month! I can't believe it, it has really gone by fast. It's been so taxing and challenging but oh so worth it. I love him more and more everyday. I've really loved watching him become this little person with his own opinions and little personality. He is such a sensitive, loving little guy. I can't wait to see him become more and more his own person, but not to quickly! I love you my baby boy.

A Very Long Post

Wow, has it really been a month since my last post? So sorry about that! I've been meaning to write some posts, and even made a list of topics! But actually getting around to doing it, now that's another story. So to make up for it, here is a really long post!

Let's start with my birthday and Halloween, since they were so long ago. For my birthday John surprised me with a concert and my cousin Jessie watched the babe, it was pretty awesome. Let's just say Julliette rocks! For Halloween we didn't do much, but it was fun dressing little Lukas up in his costume and we did take a walk with some neighbors. No trick or treating yet, he is still way too young for candy so guess who'd get to eat it all. I'm sure most of you have already seen the pics but for those who missed them here's a little sample:

Cute hunh? He was a Misfit Fiend, for those not in the know :)

Let's see, some other things I've had on my mind... oh, I attempted to make some kiwi bread with a bag of kiwis I bought for some unknown reason. Why would anyone buy a bag of kiwis? Well I did, and of course they started going bad so I decided to try and use my banana bread recipe but with kiwis instead. Well, it didn't go so well. It tasted all right but the bread just crumbled to bits if you tried to slice it, causing one to eat it with a spoon. Not the best outcome. Oh well. Here are some shots of the experiment. (Sorry about the poor pictures, there isn't much sun to be had these days, so I had to make do with the the kitchen lighting.)

 

Oh, and as I was making my kiwi bread I was wearing my new favorite apron. Yep, I wear aprons. I happened upon this one at Ross of all places and scored it for only 8 bucks!! Don't you love it when that happens? I loved it so much I bought another one :) But look how cute it is!

Again, I apologize for the poor lighting. I think I might try and use this apron as a pattern and make my own with some neato fabrics or something... just another project to add to my wish list. Speaking of which, another thing that has been on my mind is a wall. Literally. We've lived in our house for about four years now and the wall behind our sofa is still empty. I had plans to hang a painting I was working on, but lets face it, that painting isn't getting finished anytime soon. Plus John hates it. So here I am stuck with a huge blank wall. I saw this article in one of my magazines and thought it was a great idea!

 

 

I have all types of sketches that I was thinking of using, not to mention sconces and such. Here is the before picture of the wall, now let's see how long it takes me to post an after :)

See what I mean? Blank, blah! I'll have to get back to work on this ASAP!

Hmmm, what else can I bore you with. Oh! My husband and his brother have these amazing hand appliqued felt Christmas stockings that their grandma made for them when they were babes and I've always coveted them. Well, now that I have my own babe, I did some research and found that they sell kits to make these awesome things and I have since purchased one! I haven't gotten too far yet but it's actually quite fun! I've never done any hand embroidery before so I'm kinda learning as I go. I just hope I'm able to finish it before Christmas! And I finished the EDI Cowl, very very cute! New favorite for sure. I'm also working on a couple of other projects, but they are Christmas gifts for someone who reads this blog on occasion, so we won't be discussing those here.

Well, I think that's about it for now. Told you it was going to be a really long post! Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple of days and so I'm off with Jessie to get some delicious foods to prepare! I hope everyone has a wonderful one!

Hats!

Well I did knit Lukas up a couple of hats, but I'm forgoing the whole pattern deal. I've found that it would be like reinventing the wheel what with all the hat patterns out there already. So... anywho, I have a pic of one of the hats and the yummy yarn I used to make it. I used Malabrigo worsted, hand painted of course! So pretty! I have plenty of yarn left so I'm going to make John a matching hat, thought that would be cute.

I know, nothing spectacular about it, just a hat. But I do love the colors in the yarn all knitted up, kinda reminds me of the ocean. I'm also knitting myself a cowl using Presents Knits EDI Cowl pattern. Again, nothing fancy but it does look warm and cozy! I'm using Malabrigo for that one too, and I think I'm even using the same color she did! Oh well, here's the yummy yarn I'm using for that...

Well, that's about it for now. I know, not too exciting hunh? Well maybe after this weekend I'll have something interesting to post about, it is my birthday after all! Ok, well I'll leave you with a picture of some pretty flowers :)