the greatest thing since...artisan bread recipe

in between our diet coke runs anna (my bestie from illinois) taught me how to make this incredible artisan bread.

it's so freaking good and more than easy, i have to share it.

heaven...i'm in heaven

freaking crap.
it's been a busy week.
literally 4 hours after submitting all of my grades, the lady m and i were on a plane, bound for illinois. my bestie, anna, lives there. she had me give a workshop to some of her students so we flew out a few days before to have some good, old fashion bonding time.
there were diet cokes. (more than i should admit to drinking...ahhh...the good old days)
cookies.
good food. i mean, really good food. firehouse pizza, move to va, please?
and.incredible company.
really, a perfect way to kick off my vacation.
i had heard about people telling me how terrible it can be to fly with a toddler. and i was terrified. i came armed with 101 things to do on a plane and tons of chocolate (lady m's drug of choice). thankfully, i didn't need any of them.
she was a dream. in fact, she kept saying, "plane, again..."

perhaps i have a future pilot on my hands. or millionaire who flies anywhere she wants (with her momma, of course). this girl was in her element.
as soon as we got home, we drove down to our friends' house at the beach to celebrate their son's 2nd birthday. yet again, another great time.
my friend knows how to throw a small but clever birthday party. i wish i had taken pics. *sigh. know, though, that it was ah.dor.able. cream cheese penguins, marshmallow reindeer, and more...perfect for a pre-christmas birthday party.
anyway. we made it home and got to celebrate our christmas with both of our families (on different days) with a little just-our-family-time mixed in. heaven.
did i get to do all of the fun things/posts i had planned? nope. i had planned on doing all of these posts in illinois and at the beach. but something just kept telling me to enjoy this. worry about other things later.
and i did.
can't say i'm sorry about it.
heaven.

tis the season

holy smokes, people.
if you could see a pic of me (please, like that will ever happen)...but use your imagination, people. picture me in my jammies (and i wish i could say they were the cute ones),  2 hours of sleep--and i'm not a pretty no-sleeper...there are more than a few bags sitting under my eyes. dang you, skin, for getting older!, sitting on my couch, surrounded by papers and projects and papers-all which have to be graded by tonight. preferably 5pm before the boss gets home, with the lady playing quietly with her manger).
wait a tic, no one should be imagining me like that. it's a little too scary, stop it. stop it right now and think of bunnies. and puppies. and warm mugs of hot cocoa. there. feel better?
good.
but seriously, people.
i have so many fun projects to do and share.
but...
my job that actually pays some bills (notice i said,  only some...*sigh...but wait, i do know how lucky i am to actually have work. strike that negative nancy comment) needs me. my students desperately want to know how they've done this semester.
and i guess i should tell them. in the form of hours upon hours of grading.
i call this time of the year, the grading season...i'm pretty sure i'm not going to make it this time...but
it's grading season. the 2-5 day period in my life  full of eating crap, barely sleeping, and...grading. so. much. fun.
at least this go-round i have a t.a.
see.
here she is thoughtfully analyzing a paper.with her by my side, how could i go wrong?

to top it all off...a vintage christmas tree topper to d.i.y. for

it's no secret i'm in love with all things vintage. remember when i made that super cool faux vintage ornament? i'm in heaven when i'm walking around antique stores or thrift stores-well, that is, if  lady m isn't with me. don't get me wrong. i love her. more than anything. and for the most part, she's genius in these types of stores. she's very careful, and delicate, and tender with any of the items i let her hold. it's very sweet to see. it's mostly the stress of walking around trying to hold my finds, and push a stroller, or hold a 23lb baby in one hand and my awesome deal in the other...not to mention the looks from the store owners whenever they see a little baby enter their store. *sigh. there are more convenient things in this life.

c is for cookie...a cookie exchange recipe!

so.
i'm forcing myself not to get depressed that christmas is only two weeks away. presents aside (judge it, people, but i haven't bought a single-that's single with a capital -ingle, present), it's always so sad to me when christmas gets so close. i hate how it seems to fly by before i even get to fully enjoy it.(believe me, i know that that makes no real sense). but....
the kick-depression-where-it-counts activity for the day:

a cookie exchange.

i'm dreaming of an old christmas...diy vintage christmas ornaments

sue me, people. i'm wicked into vintage these days. i mean, it's getting pretty bad. in an awesome way, of course. i blame yardsales. and thrift stores. it's just so freaking easy and cheap to find cool, old things. i mean, as i type, i'm sitting next to a my giant lawn ornament, frosty. naturally, he's in my kitchen. where else do you put a vintage frosty the snowman?
i *might also blame lady m. freaking christmas songs, commercials, freaking SISTERWIVES (i realize i will be forever mocked by my family for this admission...jerks, *sniff, sniff), they all make me cry. i'm suddenly more nostalgic than i've ever been. so perhaps that's why whenever i'm at a thrift store, i'm always eyeing the cool, vintage-y looking things that most everyone else is quickly passing by (seriously, people. what's wrong with you?).

from the bottom of my heart-free printable!

holy freaking crap.
there are some christmas songs that stick with you, you know? mary, did you know?..., the one about the kid and the shoes (can i buy these shoes...), and feliz navidad. they just won't leave my head. (ps, i really just know the first few lines of each of them...so the loop is pretty short. and never-ending). don't get me wrong,  these songs aren't necessarily bad. it's just that they get stuck in my head and they don't usually leave until...june. oh i wish i were kidding. *le grand sigh.

traditions, traditions! st nick night and a recipe!

the boss and i were slightly older when we got married. i mean, we weren't 80 or anything like that...just...ahem. older.
so we were both set in our ways when it came to family traditions. my family has tons of traditions. from the random (banging pots in the middle of the street on new years eve) to the more...traditional (teehee...). the boss's family is no different. for christmas eve one year we had to dress like our favorite character from the christmas carol. yes, there are pictures. but i'm 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time. am i going to show them? heck no. actually, i contemplated it. but i can't find one of the whole costume. oh well. so sad, too...teehee).
now that we have the lady m. in our lives, we want to make sure we're celebrating the traditions that meant a lot to us as kids.

for the boss, one of those is st. nick night.  this was a new one for me. i mean, i had heard of it before. but never done it until last year.

between you and me....guest posting!

seriously. sometimes i feel so dang lucky.
today i'm playing at this incredible blog...it's called 

courtney does some super cool stuff there..i'm a huge fan of her truck mobile for a little one's room. lady m is so into trucks these days that i've got it on my list of things to make...
what i really love about her blog is that not only is she talented, but  courtney is a great connector of people. i've learned about a ton of new blogs from her. it's truly an inspiring place.
go.
go there now.
she's cool.

a christmas love letter...mercury glass christmas trees!

dear krylon looking glass spray,
i feel like i owe you an apology. just a few weeks ago, i was cursing your name. remember my most recent attempt at mercury glass fail? well, i mean, i got a nice spray-painted dish out of it, but you really frustrated me. and i almost had given up on you. i even contemplated going back to wal-mart, even after all of my trouble there, just to take you back. *sigh.

but then i got introduced to a better technique from Anna at take the side street. her tutorial on mercury glass gave me hope. so i resolved to give you one more shot.