Monday, December 31, 2012

Not Another NYE Blog Post...

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Yep… it is… 

Everyone on FB is saying great things… the year past was fantastic… and the year ahead… going to make it great!.. I totally agree (well not with the past year part - a large portion of ours was rather sucky)… but looking forward and making 2013 our best year yet… Just like everyone else we've got big plans… big hopes and dreams… It shouldn't just be looking forward with excitement because it's NYE… We should hold onto this all of the time… hahaha how chachi does that sound?.. but really though… who doesn't want to feel great and excited for what they're going to be doing!?. now sustaining it is the challenge!..

I've read one of Erin Kelly's FB posts about a yearly ritual… when taking down and packing away the tree she writes a letter to herself that she'll see next year when she takes the tree out again… 

"One of my favorite traditions, is an annual letter I write to myself. I started it in 1994, before I really understood goal setting. It is essentially a letter to my future self, inspired by the book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I pack it away each year with the Christmas tree. That way, next year, when I am getting ready to decorate for the holidays, and listening to Michael Buble's Christmas album, and drinking chai eggnogs, I get to read, reflect and re-commit to anything I might be struggling with, and celebrate the successes I've had.


The day I take the tree down, is the day I write the next letter. It is an amazing and tangible way to track your annual progress, and celebrate all the wonderful things a year can bring. It will also teach you, over time, that all the things you might be worrying about today are just cluttering up your mind, because odds are, one year from now, those things will be insignificant."


Yep… I just took a big fat quote from Erin Kelly's Facebook Page...  In the New Year now I'ma follow up with a post about Erin's Goal Setting and Achievement Seminar that Colleen and I went to a few weeks back… really good shit… for reals!..

I'm big on this goals thing since her seminar… and thinking "what I'm doing right now  - is it moving me towards achieving my goals?.." I've got my goals set and am ready to take on 2013 and make it mine!.. How about you?..

xo
Lacey




Chrimbo Hollies...

Feathering My Nest has moved!... come check all of this out over at www.featheringmynest.ca/blog

Ahh… it's nice having had a week and a bit off of work already… and I still have all of this week off!.. chill time to the max!.. ha ha… that sounded like it was right out of Saved by the Bell… My parents arrived a week and a bit ago to visit Pickly and I over Christmas and New Years!.. we've been eating lots… shopping lots… what has your Christmas been consisting of!?.  lots of chill time I hope!.. 


The paperwhites that hadn't bloomed for our Annual Christmas Shindig were in full bloom for our family Christmas!.. don't believe the box when it says that the blooms are "fragrant"… paperwhites stink… but they look sooo pretty!..  

  


  


  

Some Pickle loves me is the understatement of the century!.. Santa Pickle has spoiled me as usual this Christmas!.. And as usual I was up before the birds on Christmas morning… which lead to many Christmas day naps...



…nothin but comfort… 


…zzz… 


We took the Momma and Poppa out to Banff for Afternoon Tea this past Friday… the weather was beautiful… the sun had decided to come out… finally!.. 


…and we were lucky enough to spy these unicorn elk… 


Now tonight we're chilling out even more… lots of food… bubbly... and movies!


I hope your Christmas has been fabulous!..



xo
Lacey


Sunday, December 23, 2012

Tipps Eve...

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It's Tipps Eve AGAIN!.. I'm sitting in my front living room with Ollie snuggling on my lap… he's biting at the toggle button on my sweater and purring up a storm… and he has stinky cat breath!.. I love him so… he is a sweet kitteh…

Everyone is still asleep… they better get it in this morning... and tomorrow morning because I'm a Christmas Day early bird… I'm still a little kid when it comes to Christmas… I wake up early and I just can't go back to sleep!.. I'm too excited for everyone to open their presents!.. hehehe… how about you?.. can you hold out?.. do you sleep in?..

I've glittered a few more items…


These shots look like plugs for Martha Stewart Glitter!.. 


That would be sweet… but they're not… just a few of my instagram shots of my newly glittered creations...



My parents made it here safe and sound… we braved the mall yesterday with my dad to start and finish his Christmas shopping… a few quick stocking stuffers and last minute grocery items this morning with my mom and we'll be done completely and finally ready for Christmas Day!.. well there is some more gift wrapping now… nothing major… Oh and I really want to track down some duck fat… I want to make these Jamie Oliver Smashed Potatoes (closest thing I can find to what I saw on the Christmas Special) on Christmas Day… which also reminds me!.. I have to take the turkey out of the freezer today to thaw in the fridge!..

Yesterday was pretty action packed… we also made a trip down to Longview for Chris and dad to get some jerky… and so that Mom and I could check out Pam's Shop… visit Pam at Wow and Then if you are even in Longview… and if it's in the winter she'll have some delicious apple cider brewing… it's amazing… check out this shot of an old antique cows head at Pam's...


You have to check out this video of Straight No Chaser… now stick through the first 30 seconds… I love this version of this song… it is so good that I bought it from iTunes!.. My fave Christmas song this year is The Christmas Waltz… Check out this She & Him version of the song… 

Have to run… everyone is up!.. Chris and I are going to pickup breakfast sammiches from A&W… om nom nom… what are your plans for this eve of Christmas eve?

xo
Lacey




Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Sparkle and Shine...

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Well... I've had most of these supplies for a good 11 months now… found thrifting… the Eiffle Towers… and gifted… the Martha Stewart Glitter was in my stocking last Christmas… some Furbear loves me!.. and the German Glass Glitter I picked up this past summer on our road trip to Spokane to check out the Farm Chicks!.. well it's hit me to put them together…


Experiment with different types of glitter… as you can see the German Glass Glitter… although its the fine stuff… is still rather chunky and makes a more rustic looking ornament… then Martha's fine iridescent glitter makes a more sleek sharper looking ornament...


It was very easy… all you need is a small paint brush… heck a q-tip would work even… some white clear drying or clear glue… or modge podge… even spray glue would work… though I suspect it would get quite messy and then sparkles would be stuck to everything around you… stick to a brush and glue!.. brush it on lightly… then sprinkle your sparkles!.. 


Sprinkle your sparkles over a container or piece of paper so that you can pour them back into their container when you're all done glittering oh and don't goop on the glue you only need a thin layer now if you go too thin it'll dry really quickly trust me it's easy and you'll figure this all out rather quickly perhaps do a practice piece first to make sure you get your technique down and then you'll be sure to get the results you want!.. 


I did this quite a few years back with some small plastic animals there isn't much cuter than a gold glittered turtle really the possibilities here are endless!.. so bust out that glitter and show me what you got!..



xo
Lacey

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Out With 2012 and in With 2013…

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…frankly… personally… really… I'm done with 2012… it started out bad and stayed on that track… now I'm saying that from a shit point of view… because we'd lost our two fur babies unexpectedly due to insane out of nowhere sicknesses... within three months of each other… and my work situation was making me a zombie… 

...but now if we play optimist 2012 has turned around towards the end… and it's for fucking sure that we're making 2013 our best year yet… we want it and we'll have it… how's that for positive thinking!?. really though I've ended this year with a new place of employment and some really great new friends… and we just celebrated the holidays with the biggest party we've ever had in this house… our front room has finally come together after 6 years of trying to figure the space out… we're going to elope this coming summer/fall… and I've got some early sprouts of plans in progress for being a small business owner… so bring it on 2013…  we're ready to take you on!.. :)

Now… I'm sitting down for the first Sunday evening in AGES… supper is cooking away… really I can't remember the last time I wasn't packing away laundry until 7 or 8 at night on a Sunday!.. Pickly and I switch hit the laundry today and got it done good and early… I even finished my Christmas shopping today!.. AND all of the wrapping!… 

Three days of work... and three evenings of tidying up in preparation for the Parent's arrival later this week and I'm off for two weeks… bring on some RNR!.. 


How was your Sunday?!

xo
Lacey

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Christmas Party Success...

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Christmas party success means a few things… it means that the house was cleaned and decorated in time… the food was good… AND we had an amazing night with quite a number of our friends… I love having our friends around… but especially during the Holidays… I always get homesick during the Holidays… and the best cure for that if you can't just hop in the car and get home in a few hours is spending time with your friends… 


I've been very fortunate to have enough banked time and EDO's that I've had the past three Friday's in a row off… Having that extra day every weekend makes a big difference to what you can get done around the house… We completed the photo wall… I would like to adjust some photos and cut all crisp white mats but for now this is how it exists… I would also like to rewrite "home"… I don't know if I want another word… font… what do you think?.. what's the right word for this?..


What have you been up to this December so far?.. are you an early shopper?.. we've just finished our main Christmas shopping… though we have a few little things to pickup… Do you have any design controls on Christmas?.. hahah that sounds hilarious but this year I've decided that all presents will be brown paper wrapped with various red and white ribbons and twine… It looks beautiful… or so I think… it's less distracting on the eyes than bright printed papers… and who doesn't love brown paper packages tied up with string!?.


Here are some party prep and party shots… Of course I made some of Chris's Momma's Short Bread Tarts and Cookies… tarts complete with blueberry and raspberry jams...

  

I made my first attempt at a baked brie… I tried one a few weeks back at Bunco… what's bunco you ask!?. google that… and then find a group of crazy ladies to get together with once a month to play… trust me you'll have a ball…  back to my brie… I baked it on a baking pan… that was mistake one… mistake two was not watching it like a hawk… it melted out allover… One… get a brie baking dish to contain the gooey goodness… Two… watch the brie… either way it was delicious...


Mr. Pickle and I are getting into wine more and more… we've tracked down a few whites now that we really enjoy… we're still on the hunt for reds… but we've 9… YES 9 bottles of reds to try out now after our party… I found these darling wine charms at superstore… yeah… they have some really sweet things there if you take a real good look...


Olives… I am not a fan… I'm not sure what it is exactly but I don't like the taste… but I grabbed some up to go with the meat and cheese platter that I put together...


Now this was our biggest get together yet… every other Christmas shindig we've ended up having on the same night as friend's companies Christmas parties… well not this year… we had the most people we've ever had in the house at once in the house!.. Like I'm talking 40+ at the hight of the night...


I loved it!.. only I wish I had a little bit bigger of a house to fit everyone a little less snuggly… haha… don't get me wrong I like a good snuggle… but it was a struggle to move around to the food and drink… check out the piles of footwear… this is only about a quarter of what was in the foyer… foyer… I use that term very loosely btw… for if you know my house you know how small that space really is...


I had on a few pairs of random shoes… these were by far my faves… I now want white Chucks… Santa if you're reading I saw some at the mall yesterday… my foot is a ladies size 6...



What is a party at Chateau Pickel without Red Solo Cups… Yes… the song is now stuck in my head too… 


I found this darling little gem on my camera the next morning!.. seriously we've got to start taking pictures of us together before we start our nights out…  There isn't one shot of Pickle and I from either work Christmas party or our Christmas Party…  This photo is from the end of the night… my curly curls were much nicer at the start of the night!.. Oh!.. the brown sweater I found at superstore too I always take a quick peek at the clothes there you never know when you might find something!.. and about the jazz hand there… I'm not totally sure why I decided to break out the jazz… 


The rest of the weekend we took pretty easy… a few drives and some resting… Pickly picked me up these… my fave candy… live wires...


We had some kitteh snuggles...


Some post party naps were had...


…and more kitteh snuggles...


I'm still experimenting… testing the waters… pushing the envelope… with what I can wear to work in a "proper" office… comfort equals leggings… now don't get me wrong I wear leggings all the time… but this one below was with much shorter shirts… hahaha that sounds really lame now that I've typed it out but I don't normally wear such short shirts when I'm wearing leggings… I call this one ski chalet cozy…


We cracked one of the present bottles of wine… well two actually this past week… and we've loved both… one was a white riesling… that came in a purple kitteh wine bottle!.. you can say my friends who know me really know me… hehe… The other one is Black Tower… It is really nice and smooth as well…


I was going to blame going out to lunch due to lack of cooking meals and making lunches on the fact that it's December and a busy month but that's not why… we are lazy in the evenings and just don't want to spend time cooking… we'd rather work on projects… chill out and snuggle!.. Luckily for us it turns into some tasty lunches… well me especially because I'm working downtown now and have access to many restaurants...


Two of this past week's highlights!?.. Beer Revolution and the Palomino… the pictures speak for themselves...


Now here I sit… Saturday morning… snuggled in a blanket in my front living room with the tree on… Christmas music playing… blogging… kitty snuggling… and I finishing 95% of the shopping that I had left to do yesterday… now I have two days to relax before a short 3 day week before I take two weeks off over the holidays… its been awhile since I've had that much time off altogether… I'm quite excited as my parents are coming and Chris has a nice little chunk of time off too… and we've nothing planned to do other than spend time with loved ones… 

Haha… now I said this weekend I've two days to relax… this is just in theory of course… because I would like to get the office upstairs up and running for real… the spare room completely prepped and ready for my parent's visit and the basement well on it's way to being gutted out… it's been a catch all for the past year… and it is bursting at the seams… a few runs are in order… a dump run and a donation run… let's see how this goes today!.. What are your plans for this weekend!?.


…of course I've included another shot of the kitteh's… how couldn't I… look at these two little devils plotting… they're growing closer every day… it's very sweet… 

Have a great weekend now and we'll chat again soon… sooner this time than the last… I promise… I've got some thoughts on the past year… and some on the upcoming year and what I have planned for the year ahead ;)

xo
Lacey

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Ghost Lamp Shade...

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I did it!.. I completed a project that I'd bought the bits and pieces for MONTHS ago... actually almost a year ago now... the right room has just come together in the house to hold such a specimine... did I mention we just furnished the front living room... FINALLY!?. it's been in flux ever since we've moved into the house... NOW it has two completed wingbacks... and a big wooden piece of furniture thing with some baskets in it... and a lamp I found at Winners...  anywhoot I digress… ghost lamp shade...


Got this beastly lampshade at the ol' VV boutique… still wrapped in plastic… i cut the plastic off… then the fabric… turns out there was some plasticky paper around the top and bottom metal bands of the shade...


I peeled those off too… then gave it a quick scrub down with a scouring pad… to remove any loose bits of glue


Then to the basement we went… and I looked through the few cans of spray paint that I have down there… I knew I wanted it to be matte black… I had some BBQ paint down there… I used that and sprayed the shade… the bulb holder… and the metal bit that holds the shade to the lamp...


The lamp itself is a weathered old bronzy colour and luckily the lamp body shape is very similar to that of the lamp I found at Winners… I was temped to paint the lamp body too but it turns out that it works well left as is...


I made a quick trip over to Restoration Hardware and grabbed up a fancy tungsten quad coil bulb… not too bright... and neat to look at… pardon the lack of photos in the frames on the wall… those are coming… tomorrow… I will have photos of the finished room once it is fully sorted… it is still coming together and being decorated for Christmas...


Balls everywhere… Christmas balls… I have another bowl that I have to dig out of the basement with lion heads on either side… I think it'll go great with this deer head dish...


I found some designs online for the chalkboards… and tried my hardest to keep the writing neat... I'M SO EXCITED HOW IT TURNED OUT… the ones online are printables… but I replicated in chalk...


I have to fix the stars on this one… they look like jacks… I'm not too pleased with them… and the N could use some tweaking too...


Christmas tree star… Chris picked this one out at last year's Spruce Meadows Christmas Market…  


Mistletoe is up.. and ready for kisses...


It has been so Christmassy out lately… check out the frosty snow on the branches today… amazingly beautiful...


And supa cold… yesterday I stayed inside and put up the tree and begun the decorating… and ventured out quickly for that fancy lightbulb… 

...at this point when I was writing last night I fell asleep completely with the laptop on my lap and hands on the keyboard… yesterday was quite an action packed day at a seminar run by the amazing Erin Skye Kelly about setting goals and achieving them… More on that later...


I can't go without a couple shots of the furbabies… they're doing well and haven't been in the christmas tree… or banging ornaments off of the tree… all is well… they stuck close all day Friday while I was decorating… one in each chair asleep in the front room while I decorated the tree… such sweet little fur muffins… and right now Oliver is laying under my right arm and across my left arm and wrist making it slightly difficult to write… but he's purring like a chainsaw so I dare not push him off!.. 



Today will be filled with activities that help me to reach my goals!.. again more on that later when I get my thoughts down about the amazing Erin Skye Kelly… I want to get some final decorating done today as well… and then some house cleaning because this place ain't gonna clean itself!.. and we have to get the house in shape for next Friday's Annual Christmas Shindig…


Can't wait!.. what are you getting up to this Sunday?..

xo
Lacey


I'm getting back on the link party train… and starting this Sunday with: