little gi

a little gift for you....

from tarisota :)

the amazing & wonderful & super creative & generous tamar has compiled some of the yummiest recipes in the northern & southern hemispheres for you....recipes from her own kitchen and from kitchens of tarisota's designers & some of tarisota's best friends...she even wrangled our little ones into the fun :)

tamar has created gorgeous free PDF downloads for you & beginning today & continuing each day till Christmas...just pop over to her blog & click the download link & you can print off these beautiful & scrumptious recipes & create your own special little Holiday recipe book...

& guess who gets to kick off this fantastic 25 day yum fest???

that's right...my little ry boy :)

trust me...you will LOVE this recipe...
ryan does & he has to be the PICKIEST little bugger on the planet....but he loves this pumpkin bread...actually everyone does...it always is a big hit :)

so go forth & download :) 

a happy monday indeed :)
this week is bound to be fabulous with a start like this :)

xoxo

gi

the happiest birthday wishes....

to my Canadian friend, jessy....

this one's for you jess :)

inspiring...

still being inspired by the scrapfaith blog...

especially by this post...and especially this week when we focus on all that we are so grateful for...

we have been so blessed...i count myself extremely fortunate a million times over...

it is only fitting that i pass it on :)

funny how this week's gospel was all about "whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to Me"...

guess Someone is trying to get my attention :)

hope you have a happy tuesday!!

xoxo

gi

goodbye old kitchen

today my little kitchen is getting demolished....

the duct-taped microwave will be gone...

the awful countertops will be history...

the gross stove will be trashed...

the funny thing is...as much as i've griped & complained about this crappy kitchen & yearned for a new one ever since we moved into this house 8 years ago...i'm kinda sad to see it go...guess i'm not such a big embrace-er of change like i thought...

hopefully these next 2 weeks of upheaval go quickly & i'll be baking Christmas cookies in my new oven soon...now i'm hungry...lol!

happy monday!!

xoxo

g

year 36...day 2 :)

thank you SO much for all the birthday wishes yesterday....it was a really great day :)

mike surprised me & took the day off...
when ryan woke up he came right in & stood next to the bed "happy birthday mommy!!!!" & gave me a lego birthday cake that he's been hiding under his bed for a week & a half...it was the cutest thing...he is my little sweet boy...
kelly & kate came running in & threw ballons (from the birthday fairy's visit to kelly the previous night) all over me...

& then i got to go out shopping all by myself :)

& let me tell you...honestly, i totally feel like a fish out of water in a mall looking for stuff for myself...

i'm so used to hitting up the kids stores & buying stuff for them & then high tailing it out of there...i don't know how many times i've gone out shopping to try to get stuff for myself & come back with bags full of kids' clothing...mike totally laughs at me "uh...gi?  didn't you go out to buy yourself something???"

but seriously...what is up with the malls these days??  to me it seems, after the kids stores, there isn't much out there for the regular 36 year old looking to look like a 36 year old...most of the stores are for college & high school girls ya know?  & hello!  i've got 3 kids, i cannot pull off that kind of look anymore (& i really don't want to anyway)....& i'm also not one of those "ladies that lunch", i just want some nice clothing so i can look somewhat pulled together when i need to go to the kids' school or to the grocery store or to the park or to the zoo...& nothing that has to be dry cleaned thank you very much :)

am i really asking for much?  lol!

& i also have no idea what to buy...i don't want an entire wardrobe of black, grey & white...but at the same time, i don't want to look like molly shannon in kath & kim...lol! i really need a stylist...

& it's friday fill in time :)
1. The last band I saw live was trace adkins.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is relaxing with my family & enjoying some great food & wine.  
3. My Christmas shopping is barely even started.
4. Thoughts of these shoes fill my head.  seriously, i had a dream about them the other night...i love them...but where in the world would i ever wear them???  lol!!
5. I wish I could wear those shoes...lol! 
6. Bagpipes make me cry...they remind me of September 11th too much...we heard them incesently for weeks b/c of the non-stop funerals.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a party at a friend's home, tomorrow my plans include ryan's last soccer game and Sunday, I want to make the great soup recipes i got from friends last week...my kitchen gets demolished on monday morning!

happy friday!

xoxo

g

happy birthday kells bells...

my little girl is 7 today...

& my heart is full with pride...she is something else i'll tell ya...

we love you kells bells...to the moon & back :)

GENIUS!!!!!

pies...in....a....jar....

total & complete genius

go here to find out how to make these....

i can't wait to fill my new freezer with them :)
demolition starts thursday!!!

xoxox

g

a crafty & flowery Christmas it will be :)

thought i'd share some great flower making tutorials that i've bookmarked over the past couple of weeks & am thinking of incorporating into our Christmas crafting around here...

warning...this post is inspiration overload :)
(& the photos included in this post are not my work but the work of the artist whose blog is linked :)

i've got lots of vintage ric rac around here & think these flowers by Hannah Kopacz are the perfect use for it...
i'm thinking of adding them to little tea towels & maybe a plain fabric covered photo album

Betz White has a great video tutorial how to make her felted sweater flowers...
i think a trip to the thrift store is in order soon :)

Betz White also has a great tutorial to make this FANTASTIC ornament...i'm SO making these...LOTS of these :)

Offray Ribbons has a great tutorial how to make a ribbon rose...
these are so pretty!

another felt flower....really cute...
i'm thinking of using this tutorial but making pointed tips & using red to make pointsettias...

so happy flower making!!!!!

& have a happy monday too :)

xoxo

g

more sugarville-ing...

more sugarville-ing :)

i'm really loving incorporating other colors rather than the traditional red & green into Christmas decorations these days...especially pink & blue & cream...those seem to be my "go-to" favorites these days...
& glitter, of course...lol!

& if you would like to learn how to make the trees from my last post, i'll be doing a tutorial for them as part of an exclusive Holiday projects class for kenner road...if you missed the information in the KR newsletter, here is some information from the Kenner Road blog .

hope you have a happy weekend!!

xoxo

g

sugarville...

sugarville is released tonight at midnight at kenner road...i made the little trees above using the vintage player piano roll that was part of this month's kit...i really love how they turned out...the paper curls just perfectly after being wound around that spool for all of those years... 

and more glitter :)  can't forget the glitter :)

& thank you so much for your comments to my request for help on the last post....the winner of the RAK is Jennifer!

i'm going to try to post some tips here @ sewing & color & flower making here in the coming weeks (along with some great tutorials i've found around :)    so stay tuned :)

& here is the friday fill ins for today :)

1.  Please feel free to give me any great recipes you have.
2.  When I pick my fresh rosemary I can't help sniffing it occasionally.
3.  My favorite thing to cook is soup...i LOVE soups, especially with fresh french bread.
4. Hugs from my kid & mike are something I can't get enough of.
5.  That's the thing I love most about them...they love me just because i am me.
6. The "runner" couple on Amazing Race always makes me think to myself, what the heck?  Seriously, that Terrance is a nut.
7.  And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading my favorite magazines, tomorrow my plans include taking the kids to the NY Red Bulls day at the soccer fields and Sunday, I want to make a pot of chilli & maybe some cornbread!

hope you have a fantastic friday!!

xoxo

gi